WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A HERDSMAN THE PRACTICE AND IMAGE OF REINDEER HUSBANDRY AMONG THE KOMI OF NORTHERN RUSSIA CAMBRIDGE UNIVEASITV LIBRARY JOACHIM OTTO HABECK DARWIN COLLEGE Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Polar Studies Scott Polar Research Institute University of Cambridge June 2003 I ' I I Soft-Bound Thesis Declaration UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE Board of Graduate Studies The following declaration is required when submitting your hard-bound copy of your Ph.D., M.Sc. or M.Litt. thesis: I hereby declare that my thesis entitled: ,, ... ~~~ ... :! .. ~~0~ .. ~ .. ~ .. 2: ... ~~~~~-;: ... t.~ .. ~ .. ~~~:~ . ~~~1 .. ~f:\::~ . . ::f ... ~ .1~~: ... ~!~:.~\.. . ?!':'. ~:19 .. \~ .. ~~ .. ~~ .. ~·~~~ hfI :. -.. (. ~~~:\~~.' ... is identical in every respect to the soft-bound volume examined for the Degree, except that any alterations required by the Examiners have been made. 2 Odobi?r 2Do3 Date: .................... ....... .. . Signed: ... ~?.?..~ .. 4 Mill Lane • Cambridge • CB2 1 RZ • Tel: 01223 760606 • Fax: oI 223 338398 • http:llwww.admin.cam.ac.ukloffices!gradstud/ Secretary of the Board of Graduate Studies: Laurie Friday MA PhD Declaration I hereby declare that my dissertation entitled, "What it means to be a herdsman: the practice and image of reindeer husbandry among the Komi of northern Russia", is not substantially the same as any that I have submitted for a degree or qualification at any other university. I further state that no part of my dissertation has already been or is being concurrently submitted for any such degree, diploma or other qualification. This dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration. Statement of length: This dissertation does not exceed the 80,000 words approved by the Degree Committee of the Faculty of Earth Sciences and Geography. Signature: Joachim Otto Habeck June 2003 11 Abstract Habeck, Joachim Otto 2003 . "What it means to be a herdsman: the practice and image of reindeer husbandry among the Komi of northern Russia". PhD dissertation, University of Cambridge. This thesis explores the social, economic and political aspects of reindeer husbandry among the Komi, a people living in the north of European Russia. Taking agency as an initial concept, successive chapters examine how agency can be understood in various domains: the reindeer-herding unit and enterprise, the household and village community, relations with oil companies which are using the same land, and other actors further afield. The concept of agency is developed in counterpart to forms of structural and other constraints, yielding a complex picture of opportunity and resources. A simultaneous historical strand allows us to focus down on the concept of tradition. Through an analysis of differing and contradictory scales of image and value, I show how the concept of tradition is the most constraining of all since it originates and is validated from outside. In conclusion, I argue that gaining control of their own image is a vital requirement for the reindeer herders and their family members in order to develop a viable future. 111 Acknowledgements The present thesis is the result of a PhD course at Cambridge University and participation in two EU-funded scientific projects, which all provided the financial basis for the research presented here. I am grateful for the generous support of the B. B. Roberts Fund in Cambridge and the Cambridge European Trust; and also that of the Daimler Benz Foundation in Ladenburg (Germany), which enabled me to study in Cambridge in the first place. The possibility of conducting fieldwork was based upon my employment as a research assistant in the "Tundra Degradation in the Russian Arctic" (TUNDRA) Project1 from 1998 to 2000 and a subsequent project called "Sustainable Development of the Pechora Region in a Changing Environment and Society" (SPICE)2 from 2000 to 2003. Anthropological fieldwork, like that I carried out for the present thesis, is more than just an academic exercise; it always involves friendship and co-operation. Fieldwork would be impossible were it not for the courage and freedom of people to accept an unexpected acquaintance as a member of their everyday lives. I was granted this unreserved benevolence countless times in many places in the Russian Federation. My sincere thanks go to the families and individuals that received me so well in the Komi Republic and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug: notably the Arteev, Filippov, Gusev, Kanev, Khatanzeiskii, Khoziainov, Kozhevin, Pavlov, Panshin, Pechenkin and Rochev families in Novikbozh and Ust'-Usa. Thanks to the management and the employees of the former state farm "Ust'-Usinskii", I was able to participate in the everyday life of reindeer-herding units. People in other reindeer- herding communities, too, have supported my research, and I am grateful to many individuals in the villages and hamlets Siziabsk, Mutnyi Materik, Shcheliabozh, Kolva, Rogovaia, Petrun' , Tosh-Pi, Abez', Yar-Pi-Yak, Kharuta, Khoseda-Khard, Khorei-Ver and Krasnoe. Friends and acquaintances in the northern towns were no less helpful, and in particular I wish to thank the Pechenkin and Sharikov families as well as Igor' Klimov and Lera Sobolevskaia in Usinsk, Rimma Yakovleva and the Khalamov family in Pechora, the Shurakov family in Inta, Margarita Getsen in Vorkuta and Serafima Durkina in Nar'ian-Mar. Friends and colleagues in Syktyvkar, the capital of the Komi Republic, have equally helped me to prepare my stays in the North. It is difficult to express how grateful I am to the 1 The TUNDRA Project was supported by the Environment and Climate Programme of the European Commis- sion (contract N° EN V4-CT97-0522, "Climatology and Natural Hazards"). 2 The SPICE Project is supported by the !NCO-COPERNICUS 2 Programme of the 5th Framework of the European Commission ( contract N° ICA2-CT-2000-l0018). IV Nesanelis family: in addition to food, shelter and much needed storage capacities, they gave me food for thought and ample space in intellectual and individual terms. The Komi Science Centre (Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences) in Syktyvkar served as a basis for my research activities in the Komi Republic and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. This would not have been possible without the emphatic support and sincere friendship of people like Nikolai Konakov, Yuliia Krasheninnikova, Aleksandr Maksimov, Vasilii Ponomarev, Inna Rapota, Yurii Shabaev, Valerii Sharapov, Anatolii Taskaev, Oleg Uliashev, Aleksandr Volokitin, Vladimir Yelsakov, and many others. Liubov' Y akovlevna Kaneva and Boris Kondratenok accompanied me in the initial and final stages of my fieldwork in the northern villages. I wish to express my gratitude to all of them. Kirill Istomin in particular receives my thanks for numerous inspiring discussions and advice in countless matters. I strongly believe that he has the makings of an expert in the study of Komi reindeer husbandry, and I am convinced that he will continue his research with the same ardent and assiduous attitude that he has shown over all the years that I have had the pleasure of knowing him. The preparation of this PhD thesis saw many intermezzi, including several stays in Finland in connection with simultaneous research for the TUNDRA and SPICE projects mentioned above, but also for consultations and contacts with colleagues from the Universities of Lapland, Oulu, Tampere and Helsinki. It is pleasure to thank Bruce Forbes, Pierre-Andre Forest, Scott Forrest, Hannu Heikkinen, Timo Pauli Karjalainen, Seija Kultti, Peter Kuhry, Ari Laakso, Ari Nikula, Harri Norberg, Osmo Ratti, Tapani Salminen, Janne Salonen, Paivi Soppela, Tuula Tuisku and Tarmo Virtanen for their unhesitating help and magnificent spirit wherever we happened to meet (many times we met unexpectedly, or in quite bizarre places, or both). Likewise, I wish to thank all participants of the "Reindeer" course of the Circumpolar PhD Network in Arctic Environmental Studies (CAES). As a research assistant to Tim Ingold within the TUNDRA and SPICE projects, I also spent a year at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Aberdeen. To work and live in Aberdeen was a very great privilege and a pleasure. I felt happy to return to a country that I had known from my youth, and was yet to get to know much better through the many excursions with Tony Glendinning and his insightful thoughts and stories. I remember them with gratefulness and affection. I also feel very indebted to David Anderson, whose scholarship and friendliness have been an example to me since the start of my PhD course. Tim Ingold has supported me throughout my time in Britain and I have learnt to admire him for his immensely inspiring intellect and his highly favourable attitude as an employer. V Piers Vitebsky, my supervisor at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, deserves my utmost thanks for his guidance throughout the PhD course and his refreshing approach in academic and non-academic matters. His analytical sense, creativity, relentless energy, humour and optimism are among the strongest and nicest impressions that I received during my stay in Cambridge, which are endorsed by his family's uncomplicated hospitality. I am grateful to Tatiana Argounova-Low, Mark Dwyer, Janne Flora, Stephanie Fox, Paul Fryer, Lena Khlinovskaya-Rockhill, Sean Maher, Vera Skvirskaya, Niobe Thompson, Ol'ga Tutubalina, Ol'ga Ulturgasheva, Rane Willerslev, Emma Wilson and many other students of the Scott Polar Research Institute and the Department of Social Anthropology. They accompanied me through my years at Cambridge University and gave me guidance and advice countless times. Among them are also Agnieszka Halemba, Martin Holbraadt and Johan Rasanayagam, who gave valuable comments on earlier drafts of the thesis and its chapters. The staff at the Scott Polar Research Institute and its library receive my sincere thanks for their cordial and cheerful assistance. Owing to their very welcoming manner, this place has always felt like home. I am indebted to Oliver Merrington in particular for his assistance in exploring the Internet and the countryside around Cambridge. I am also very grateful to Khadidjah Mattar, who helped editing, proofreading and polishing the text -in the final stages. Darwin College gave me the opportunity to experience the cosmopolitan academic atmosphere and student life in the most positive way. I am grateful to its staff and its members, particularly those that I stayed with during a memorable and joyful year at Number Two, Summerfield. At the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle (Germany) I have found a new environment of work and scholarship, where Florian Stammler, Aimar Ventsel, John Ziker and many others have received me very well. I should like to thank them for their encouraging spirit and their help while I was settling in. S_upportive in the most manifold ways were my relatives and friends in Germany and I want to express my sincere thanks to all the Habecks, Buchels, Homs, Hildebrandts and Wunderlichs who followed the progress of my work with both patience and encouragement. My greatest thanks go to my parents, Marianne and Dietrich Habeck, who have long striven and waited for this achievement, and to whom I therefore dedicate the thesis. Vl Piers Vitebsky, my supervisor at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, deserves my utmost thanks for his guidance throughout the PhD course and his refreshing approach in academic and non-academic matters. His analytical sense, creativity, relentless energy, humour and optimism are among the strongest and nicest impressions that I received during my stay in Cambridge, which are endorsed by his family's uncomplicated hospitality. I am grateful to Tatiana Argounova-Low, Mark Dwyer, Janne Flora, Stephanie Fox, Paul Fryer, Lena Khlinovskaya-Rockhill, Sean Maher, Vera Skvirskaya, Niobe Thompson, Ol'ga Tutubalina, Ol'ga Ulturgasheva, Rane Willerslev, Emma Wilson and many other students of the Scott Polar Research Institute and the Department of Social Anthropology. They accompanied me through my years at Cambridge University and gave me guidance and advice countless times. Among them are also Agnieszka Halemba, Martin Holbraadt and Johan Rasanayagam, who gave valuable comments on earlier drafts of the thesis and its chapters. The staff at the Scott Polar Research Institute and its library receive my sincere thanks for their cordial and cheerful assistance. Owing to their very welcoming manner, this place has always felt like home. I am indebted to Oliver Merrington in particular for his assistance in exploring the Internet and the countryside around Cambridge. I am also very grateful to Khadidjah Mattar, who helped editing, proofreading and polishing the text in the final stages. Darwin College gave me the opportunity to experience the cosmopolitan academic atmosphere and student life in the most positive way. I am grateful to its staff and its members, particularly those that I stayed with during a memorable and joyful year at Number Two, Summerfield. At the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle (Germany) I have found a new environment of work and scholarship, where Florian Stammler, Aimar Ventsel, John Ziker and many others have received me very well. I should like to thank them for their encouraging spirit and their help while I was settling in. Supportive in the most manifold ways were my relatives and friends in Germany and I want to express my sincere thanks to all the Habecks, Buchels, Homs, Hildebrandts and Wunderlichs who followed the progress of my work with both patience and encouragement. My greatest thanks go to my parents, Marianne and Dietrich Habeck, who have long striven and waited for this achievement, and to whom I therefore dedicate the thesis. Vl Table of contents Declaration .......... ... ... . .. . ..................... . . .. .................................................... .ii Abstract. ............................................................................... ... .................... iii Acknowledgements ................................................................................ ........ .iv Table of contents .......................................................................................... vii List of figures and tables ............................. .. ................................................... x Notes on languages, transliteration, sources and fieldwork .......................................... xi Glossary of frequently used Russian terms .......................................................... xiii Map of the Komi Republic (northeastem part) and adjacent areas ............................... xiv Dramatis personae ...... ............................ .... ........ ... ....................................... xv Chapter 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background .................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Overview ...................................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Key concepts ................................................................................................................ 7 Chapter 2 Tundra and forest .......................................................................................... 11 2.1 The tent, the camp site and the inhabitants ................................................ ... .............. 11 2.2 The practice ofreindeer husbandry in the various seasons ................ ....... ... .. ..... ...... 21 2.2.1 Spring .................................................................................. .. ................................ 21 2.2.2 Summer ................................................................. ............ .. .................................. 28 2.2.3 Autumn .................................................................................................................. 31 2.2.4 Winter .................................................................................................................... 32 2.3 Spatial mobility and the life-world of Komi herdspeople ......................................... 34 Chapter 3 · Small village, large village and town ............................................................ 38 3.1 Novikbozh ............................. ................................................................. ... ................. 39 3.2 Ust'-Usa ..... ........................................................................ ........................................ 44 3.3 Travelling to town: Usinsk ........................................................................................ 53 Chapter 4 The dynamics of Komi reindeer husbandry in space and time ................. 58 4.1 Geographical sketch ................................................................................................... 59 4.2 The emergence ofKomi reindeer husbandry ............................................................. 62 4.3 Komi reindeer husbandry between progress and backwardness ............................... 67 4.3.1 Komi reindeer husbandry becoming marginalized ............................................... 67 4.3.2 Komi reindeer husbandry becoming a model for Soviet reindeer husbandry ....... 74 4.4 "Losing reindeer without notice": centralisation and the question of responsibility. 78 4.5 Abandoned winter pastures: how do people take decisions about land use? ............. 82 Chapter 5 Oil and land ............ 0 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 86 5 .1 Oil industry in the Bol' shezemel ' skaia Tundra .... ..... ..... .. ....... ........ ... ....................... 87 5.2 Transfer ofland, compensation and reclamation: the legal aspects ............. .. ... ........ 89 5.3 Actors and their relations: the wider political aspects ....... .... .................................... 92 5A Actors and their relations: how herdsmen and oil workers see each other ..... ... .... .. .. 94 Vll Chapter 6 Meat and markets ......................................................................................... 99 6.1 Explaining sovkhoz statistics: classifications ofreindeer .. ..... ....... ... ....... .. ......... ..... 100 6.2 Slaughter and marketing .......................................................................................... 105 6.3 Attempts at restructuring slaughter and marketing .................................................. 111 6.4 Beyond sovkhoz statistics: velvet antlers as extra capital ..... .. .............. ...... .... ... ... .. . 113 6.5 Supply of the brigades, and more sovkhoz statistics .... .............. .. .... .... .. .. .... ............ 115 6.6 Why privatisation has failed ............ ..... .. .. ......... .. .. ................ .. ......... .. ............. ........ 118 6. 7 The private and the public dimension of the sovkhoz ... ...... ........ ............ .. ... ... .... ..... 123 Chapter 7: Households, herders, tent workers .................................................................. 126 7.1 Social stratification ofreindeer-herding households ............................................... 127 7.2 Spatial mobility, social networks, and the notion of "home" .. ............... .... ... .. .. ..... . 131 7.3 Social relations in the tundra versus village ........................................................... . 133 7.4 Types ofresources and the "economy of survival" ................................................. 135 7.5 Who wants to work in reindeer husbandry? ............................................................ 136 7.5.1 How many people are required in the tundra? .................................................... 137 7.5.2 How profitable is work in reindeer husbandry? .................................................. 138 7.5.3 Women ............................... ...... ... .. ................. ............................... .. .......... .......... 140 7.5.4 Men ......... ... ... ..... ....... ....... ....................................... ....... .. ..... ........ .... ... ..... .......... 144 7.6 Who is capable and entitled to work in reindeer husbandry? .......... .. .... ............. ..... 147 Chapter 8 Image and the concept of tradition ............................................................. 152 8.1 Komi reindeer herders' self-perception and representation ................ .. .. ... ..... .... .... . 153 8.2 More voices in the discourse about Komi reindeer herding ................ .. ......... .. ....... 155 8.3 Is reindeer herding condemned to tradition? .... ................. .... .. ..... .... ... ... .... .. .. .... .. ... 161 8.4 How could Komi reindeer herders utilise the concept of tradition? .. ... .. ................. 164 Chapter 9 Conclusions ................................................................................................... 168 9.1 Agency ... ... ...... ....... ............. ....... ............ .. .. ..... ...... .. ... .... ... .... ... ....... ........ ........... .. .... 169 9 .1.1 Agency and the practice ofreindeer herding ............... .. ............................ ......... 169 9: 1.2 Agency and the image ofreindeer herding ... ................................. ..... ........... .... . 177 9.1.3 Agency in different domains ................................... .. .......................................... 180 9 .2 Tradition ................................................................................................................... 182 9 .3 The ironies of the periphery ..................................................................................... 187 Epilogue .................................................................................................. 190 Appendices . .. ....... ~ •. ................................... ... ................... . ...... . ................ 193 App. 1: Description of the moving from one campsite to another ..... ....................... .. ...... 193 App. 2: Transition to large-scale reindeer husbandry among Komi and Nenets .. .... ..... ... 198 App. 3: Kolva and the identity of the Kolvintsy ................. : ........ ........ ....... .. .................... 201 App. 4: Sergei Vasil'evich Kertselli (1869- 1935) ........ .............................. ....... .......... .. ... 204 App. 5: Khoseda-Khard ...................................................................................................... 206 App. 6: Reindeer turnover ... for 1999, [state farm] "Ust'-Usinskii" ................................ 209 App. 7: Reindeer turnover ... for 1999, Komi Republic ........................ : ........................... 211 App. 8: Numbers ofreindeer, Nenets Okrug and Komi Republic, as of 1 January 2000. 213 App. 9: Strategies for improving technologies and marketing in the reindeer business ... 214 App. 10: Private herders in Nenets Autonomous Okrug and Komi Republic .................. 221 Literature ................................................................................................ 226 vm List of figures and tables Number Type of figure Caption Page Figure Map Komi Republic (northeastem part) and adjacent areas XIV Figure 2 Photograph Interior of reindeer herders ' tent, diurnal appearance 13 Figure 3 Photograph Entrance to the tent, with firewood stacked in front 14 Figure 4 Ground plan Komi reindeer herders' tent in spring, autumn and winter 15 Figure 4a Ground plan Komi reindeer herders' tent in summer 15a Figure 5 Ground plan Komi reindeer herders' camp site in spring 17 Figure 6 Photograph Selecting sledge reindeer 18 Figure 7 Photograph Female reindeer with her calf 24 Figure 8 Photograph Young herder carrying a tree trunk for sledge building 25 Figure 9 Photograph Sledge building 25 Figure 10 Photograph Mending the tent covers 26 Figure 11 Photograph Fording a river 27 Figure 12 Photograph The house of the Khatanzeiskii family in Novikbozh 40 Figure 13 Photograph The village ofNovikbozh 43 Figure 14 Photograph The village ofUst'-Usa 45 Figure 15 Photograph The state farm's office (kontora) 46 Figure 16 Photograph Painting in the foyer of the Ust'-Usa school building 51 Figure 17 Photograph Sixtieth anniversary of the Ust'-Usa school 53 Figure 18 Photo and text "The beginning of history" 55 Figure 19 Photograph Exhibition in the museum ofUsinsk 57 Figure 20 Map Reindeer pastures ofKomi enterprises as of 1955 77 Figure 21 Photograph Scrap in the tundra 91 Figure 22 Photograph Abandoned oil drilling site in the tundra 96 Figure 23 Photograph Counting the deer in the corral 102 Figure 24 Photograph Table for counting reindeer 102 Figure 25 Photograph Slaughter in the corral 102 Figure 26 Photograph Slaughter in the slaughterhouse 108 Figure 27 Photograph Cutting antlers 113 Figure 28 Photograph Moving the camp: packing up the sledges 194 Figure 29 Photograph Moving the camp: adjusting the stovepipe 196 Figure 30 Photograph Albina 240 Table 1 Classification of reindeer for statistical purposes . .. 99 X Notes on language, transliteration, sources and fieldwork Apart from English and standard Latin expressions, the thesis contains words from the Russian and Komi languages, which are indicated by different formats. Russian words are put in italic print (russkii yazyk); Komi words as well as Nenets words that are used among Komi reindeer-herding families are put in italic print and underlined (komi kyv). I have used the Library of Congress transliteration system for Cyrillic script, with one exception (thereby I follow the standard of David Anderson 1995): the iotised vowels ia, ie and iu, if they are the first letter of a word, will be rendered as ya, ye and yu (for example, yando instead of iando ). Pre-revolutionary Russian orthography is replaced by the currently existing one. All Russian words are generally rendered in the dictionary form. Komi has some characters missing in the Russian alphabet, notably i and a. To distinguish i from the Cyrillic letter H, the former is rendered in transliteration as i' and the latter as i. Komi reindeer-herding families usually speak the northern vernacular of the Komi language, which is called the Izhma Komi dialect (Iz 'vatas) or some dialect close to it. Although some scholars propose a specific orthography for the Izhma Komi dialect ( cf Anufrieva 1992), I use the transliterated version of the orthographic equivalent in standard Komi tongue (for example, argysh instead of argyzh as suggested by Anufrieva 1992: 8). Komi words, too, are given in the dictionary form. The thesis draws on the following types of data, such as published and unpublished printed texts, Internet web pages, personal communications with colleagues, archival materials and most importantly, fieldwork materials. To explain the provenance and process of collection of fieldwork materials, let me shortly summarise my research activities for this thesis in the Republic of Komi and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The main period of fieldwork was from July 1998 to July 1999. Subsequent stays in the region in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 were temporarily limited to three months ma;x.imum. The central locations of my fieldwork are the villages and towns in the northeastern part of the Komi Republic (between Izhma and Vorkuta) plus the southeastem part of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (cf. figure 1). I have visited all reindeer-herding enterprises (former state farms) in the Komi Republic that existed in 1999, and four in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, but the visits differed considerably in length. The reindeer-herding community that I know best is the one which encompasses Novikbozh and Ust'-Usa, two villages in the Usinsk District. I stayed for extended periods in both the villages and the reindeer-herding camps with several families Xl from these communities. With regard to the practice of reindeer herding, I can draw on participant observation for most periods through the year, except late summer and early autumn. I have documented arid indexed the fieldwork in a series of notebooks, as is usually done in anthropological research, and I numbered the various entries or units. In the present thesis, I refer to such fieldwork materials by using the abbreviation FM and the number of the unit. Usually I refer to fieldwork materials only in case of direct quotations. In summer 1999, I carried out two weeks of archival work in the State Archive of the Komi Republic (Gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Respubliki Kami) in the Komi capital Syktyvkar. In the present thesis, I refer to only a few of the materials that I went through. These are included in the Literature section. Xll Glossary of frequently used Russian terms Russian acronym Russian word Literal translation Translation, synonym ASSR AvtonomnaiaSovetskaia Autonomous Soviet Autonomous Soviet Sotsk1listickskaiaRespublika Socialist Republic Socialist Republic bania bath-house bath-house brigada brigade brigade; herding unit chwn (Komi: chom) tent reindeer herders' tent kontora counting house office kolkhoz kollektivnoe khoziaistvo collective enterprise collective farm okrug district, area Okrug panty antlers antlers raion rayon district sovkhoz sovetskoe khoziaistvo Soviet enterprise state farm Xlll ~· FIGURE 1 KOMI REPUBLIC (northeastern part) and adjacent areas 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 km 54'E I (/) ,..,,../ t,, ...,s ..r- ...... / I i > Pekhekh1 I iakha / '- J 6";:;/ _.,.f' r·/ - '-. / ,J • Abez' .X r·· r ·,. ' ) ?:-V J '} I , \ ( •' __ .,...., / ;··<. / \ '0.. --, ·, "j KHANTY- 1' .. -~ r' MANSI , °'\_; AUTON ' SO E OKRUG YAMALO-NENETS AUTONOMOUS OKRUG 66°N ....,._ Rivers - Railways All-year roads • • • Towns, centres of reindeer-herding - - - Reindeer pasture boundaries (de jure) ONLY 1N KOM1 REF' AND NENETs A. o. enterprises, other places --- Southern limit of reindeer husbandry (de facto) ONLY 1N KOM1 REF' Region and Republic boundaries District boundaries K~ 'IAGA Oil field currently under exploitation Dramatis personae Reindeer-herding brigade N° 9 VASILII, head of the brigade TANIA, his wife, senior tent-worker TONIA, niece of Tania and junior tent-worker SASHA, son of Tania and Vasilii,junior herder lRINA, daughter of Tania and Vasilii, schoolgirl,liveswiththebrigadeinsmnrner Iv AN, the younger brother of Vasilii, senior herder POLINA, his partner, second tent-worker in the brigade TER' MISH ANDREI, son of Polina,junior herder LYZHASA ANDREI, a distant relative of everybody, junior herder LESHA, a distant relative, apprentice herder ZHEN'KO, nephew of Polina, to become an apprentice herder VITKO, son of Polina, to become an apprentice herder Reindeer-herding brigade N° 10 ZHENIA, new head of the brigade, nephew ofVasilii and Ivan VITALII, former head of this brigade LIUDA, his wife, formerly senior tent-worker in this brigade IZHMA FED', senior herder STEPAN, senior herder LIUBA, his wife, senior tent-worker KOSTIA, son of Liuba and Stepan, junior reindeer herder ONDRIUK, nephew of Liuba and Vitalii, junior herder The Khatanzeiskii family YELENA, Zhenia's mother ANIA, his older sister ROZA, his younger sister KATIA, his younger sister V AN' KO, his younger brother MISHKO, his younger brother The farm office OSH VAS', boss of all brigades SHARIKOV, zoo-technician OLEG, nephew of Sharikov, veterinary surgeon SVETLANA, his wife, veterinary surgeon TRET'IAKOV, driver Further afield VOLODIA, works as a foreman in an oil company DANILOV, works as a driver in another oil company BORODA, lives on his own by the lakeside in the tundra } left hand side of the reindeer herders' tent right hand side right hand side left hand side PASYNKOV, director of a reindeer-herding enterprise in the far-away town of Vorkuta BEZUMOV, works in the Ministry of Agriculture in Syktyvkar, even further away xv Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Background This thesis examines the past and present of reindeer herding among the Komi, a people in the north of the European part of the Russian Federation, and contributes to the assessment of the future prospects for reindeer herding in this region. Reindeer herding is pursued by many peoples in the north of Russia and is well documented in anthropological and other writings, but comparatively little attention has been paid to the role of the Komi in reindeer husbandry. This is conspicuous, considering the peculiar position of the Komi among the peoples of the north as well as the peculiar influence that Komi practices of reindeer herding have exerted on the wider region. There are thirty-odd indigenous peoples in the Russian Federation with the special legal status of being "numerically small", and for many of these peoples reindeer herding serves as a symbolic label to emphasise their ethnic identity. The Komi do not belong to the "numerically small peoples" and, although some groups engage in reindeer herding, it is not central to the ethnic identity of the Komi as a whole. Reindeer-herding groups constitute a minority among the Korhi. Komi reindeer herders are therefore in an anomalous position in ethnographic, legal, economic and symbolic terms. The ethnography of this thesis will examine these peculiarities in detail. Precisely because of this anomalous position, their relationship to the current political discourse about indigenous identities and tradition is also unusual and problematic. I shall argue that while the representatives of the "numerically small peoples" can take advantage of the notions of this discourse, Komi reindeer herders are more likely to be its victims. Particularly the usage of tradition as a discursive resource may be reducing rather than extending the space for manreuvre for Xomi reindeer herders. Thus, I shall analyse not only the practice of Komi reindeer herding but also its image in the wider public. This image, it should be emphasised, has changed repeatedly since the times when the Komi started to engage in reindeer herding. In the 19th century, Komi reindeer husbandry provided an example of market economy and capitalist relations in the rural north of Russia. In the 20th century, Komi practices of reindeer herding were officially promoted as a blueprint for "progressive" reindeer husbandry all over the north of Russia; yet at the same time, officials began to ociate the reindeer business with ~-T CAMBRIDGE: ,, 1 UNIVEASITV LtBRAAv backwardness. Now, at the beginning of the 21 st century, we witness how Komi reindeer herding is gradually acquiring a new image: the image of a traditional life-style. In the political discourse on identities and indigenous peoples, the notion of tradition is frequently used as a resource. Such cases have been illustrated in anthropological literature throughout the world (e.g. Appadurai 1981; Barth 1969; Keesing 1992; Lawson 1997; Linnekin 1983; Sissons 1993; Thomas 1992) and with regard to the Circumpolar North in particular (e.g. Bjerkli 1996; Brox 1973; Feit 2001; Muller-Wille 2001; Dorais and Searles 2001 provide a useful overview over studies on Inuit identities). Publications concerning indigenous identities in the north of the Russian Federation include, among others, Anderson 2000; Golovnev and Osherenko 1999; Balzer 1999; Grant 1995; Nobl Overland 1999; Pika and Prokhorov (eds.) 1994; Slezkine 1994; Ssorin-Chaikov 2003; Vitebsky 1992 and 2002. While some authors have sought to deconstruct identities as "invented", others have "emphasized that created identities are not somehow contrived and insincere" (Thomas 1992); rather, the formulation and negotiation of identities and traditions constitute a dynamic and creative process. Traditions "are invented as they are lived and thought about" (Linnekin 1983: 250, cf Sahlins 1999). However - and this is the main argument of the present thesis - for Komi reindeer herders and their family members, the notion of tradition is a very problematic discursive resource. What is more, they do not talk about tradition; nor do they imagine themselves as traditional - they describe themselves in other terms. Instead, other people, notably intellectuals and politicians in Russia and abroad, are prone to describe Komi reindeer herders as being traditional, as leading a traditional way of life. Thus, Komi reindeer herders themselves do not have control of their own image, as this image is created and reproduced by outsiders. I interpret the statement that Komi reindeer herders and their family members do not have control of their image as pointing to a lack of agency ~n the political sphere. This does not mean, however, that they do not have any agency at all. Their agency is of a different kind; it is present in other spheres. I shall discuss the aspects of Komi reindeer herders' agency in relation to various domains. Domains, as I understand it, are different settings of everyday existence that together constitute the life-world of an individual or group, in this case, the Komi reindeer herders and their family members. The chapters of the thesis broadly correlate to these different domains, which, in their turn, correspond to different kinds of space: the reindeer-herding unit ( chapter 2); the agricultural enterprise ( chapters 3 and 6); the village community ( chapters 3 and 7); the oil 2 compames operating on former reindeer-herding pastures ( chapter 5); and the admin- istrative and political environment that deals with reindeer husbandry ( chapter 8). I discuss each domain by focusing on one key resource and its role in relations between reindeer herders and other actors in the given domain. Thus, the chapter on the oil industry ( chapter 5) deals with land as a key resource; the chapter on the agricultural enterprise ( chapter 6) deals with meat as a key resource. In chapter 7, I analyse reindeer-herding households in terms of various sources of income; and in chapter 8, I discuss the image of reindeer husbandry by examining the usage of "tradition" as a resource of a different kind, which I call discursive. What follows is a brief overview of the content of these chapters. 1.2 Overview Many ethnographic accounts begin with the arrival of the anthropologist at a remote destination and his or her first contact with the "others" (what Campbell (1995: 28) calls the "arrival topos"). In contrast, the story of the present thesis starts in the tent of the reindeer herders, as this is the point of reference from which everything else unfolds. Chapter 2 is an ethnography of the reindeer-herding Brigade Number Nine of the former state farm "Ust'-Usinskii", a reindeer-herding enterprise in the north of the Komi Republic (figure 1). I shall not use concepts such as "agency" or "tradition'' in this chapter, since the Komi reindeer herders and their family members do not talk about "agency" or "tradition" themselves. I simply want to give a description of Komi reindeer husbandry in viva and to prepare the ground for the subsequent analytical chapters. The story evolves around the tent as the centre of the life-world of the reindeer herders and tent workers in the tundra and forest. From there, the story moves outward across the rivers and pastures towards the Komi villages further in the south. In chapter 3, we shall follow the reindeer herders and tent workers into "their" village. Although the tent is the centre of the life-world for a considerable part of the year, it is not the only one. A Komi reindeer-herding family has two bases: the tent in the tundra and the house in the village. Social relations in the tundra are not the same as social relations in the village. We shall get to know some officials from the reindeer-herding enterprise, who have interests and rationales different from those of the actual herders and tent workers. We shall also visit the village school and explore how reindeer herding is portrayed in local cultural institutions. Teachers and librarians play an important role in the formulation of the image of reindeer herding in the local context, yet the paradigms they 3 are using to define reindeer herding are imported from outside the community. The chapter ends with an excursion to the nearest town, which was erected on the pastures of the reindeer herders and has developed into the centre of oil production in the Komi Republic. The identity of the town is promoted to a wider public in the Komi Republic and the Russian Federation in a strikingly different way from the identity of the reindeer-herding villages. The local narrative, which is based on the appropriation of oil and gas, associates the construction of the town with the "beginning of history", and ironically, albeit unintentionally, extradites the reindeer herders and tent workers into prehistoric times. Chapters 2 and 3 establish the domains of subsequent chapters (5 to 8) and raise questions of various kinds of agency in these domains. Each of the domains is related to a specific configuration of agency; and though one and the same actor may have a difficult standing in one domain, he or she may be excellently placed in another. In chapter 4, I shall describe the dynamics of reindeer herding in the European North in time and space. The Komi learnt how to herd reindeer from their northern neighbours, the Nenets. The Komi started to engage in reindeer herding comparatively late, notably in the 1 ih and 18th centuries. Thus, the historical background and "traditionality" of Komi involvement in reindeer husbandry go no deeper than those of the cotton industry in Britain (Wadsworth and Mann 1931 ). And in a way similar to the cotton industry ushering in the industrial revolution in Britain, the emergence of large-scale reindeer husbandry transformed the rural economy . in many parts of the Russian North. By the mid-19th century, re.indeer husbandry in the European North had developed into a fully market- oriented and highly profitable business. The ways the Komi were practising reindeer husbandry were considered to be progressive and, at times, aggressive and expansive at the cost of the Nenets. From 1930 onwards, this "progressive" image of Komi reindeer husbandry gradually gave way to a "backward" image. I shall argue that Communist Party officials assumed that any activity to do with reindeer must be backward, and constructed this image of "backwardness". Reindeer herding connects the Komi with the Nenets in terms of history as well as geography; the pastures of the Komi arid European Nenets herders are intertwined and constitute one single region that stretches from the shores of the White Sea to the Urals, and beyond. Since the 1970s, though, many of the southernmost pastures lie fallow; the herders do not use them any more. I shall explain why in various cases the herders and their managers decided either to abandon or to continue using these lands. 4 Rights to land use are the focus of chapter 5. This chapter is a modified version of an earlier publication based on the same fieldwork (Habeck 2002). With the advent of the oil and gas industry in the region, Komi and Nenets reindeer herders have to cope with the fact that part of the lands officially allotted to them are transferred to oil and gas companies, and that oil and gas production negatively affects the quality of their pastures. In this process of "encroachment", however, there are some elements that the herders and their managers take as opportunities. The chapter will assess the extent to which reindeer herders have control over land transfer and compensation, and what strategies they develop to tackle the challenges of this encroachment. It will become evident that the withdrawal of land for oil and gas production constitutes one among many problems for Komi reindeer herding but, as will be shown later, not the most threatening one. In chapter 6, I shall argue that relations between Komi reindeer herders and the managers of the reindeer-herding enterprises are different from those between factory workers and their bosses, or between farm workers and farm managers in the central part of Russia. For many months the herders operate outside the sphere of direct control by management. The management's control is restricted to some seasonal key events ("taking stock"). Equally, the managers have to render supplies and services at certain times and in certain locations. Such events of taking stock and providing supplies are moments when the relations between managers and herders are exposed and tested. For the rest of the year, both sides - the herding unit and the management - have to rely on each other without close scrutiny. Thus, in addition to the mechanisms of contract and control, there must be trust in the relations between the two sides. I shall describe these relations as a kind of symbiosis. The fact that both groups are operating out of sight of each other for most of the year gives reason to treat them as two separate domains. By the same token, both groups stick to the old organisational structure of the state farm; thus they may be seen as constituting a single domain. Komi reindeer husbandry has generally bypassed federal privatisation policies. From a conventional market economy perspective, the reasons, why the dinosaurs of socialist agriculture still survive, and why people still stay with the former state farm even if they do not receive regular wages year after · year are enigmatic. I shall discuss this question with reference to anthropological studies in other regions of Russia and propose that the former state farm provides a basis for the informal entrepreneurial activities of both herders and managers. The currency of this informal trade is manipulable resources, which seldom turn up in the official statistics of the enterprise. Social networks, kinship and 5 friendship, are resources themselves. Social stratification among reindeer-herding families shows that different actors use resources with different success. In chapter 7, I shall show that reindeer herding is an important element in the livelihood of many Northern Komi families~ yet it is not the only element. In times of economic hardship families place their members in various occupational spheres and subsistence sectors in order to diversify their monetary and non-monetary income. Every Komi reindeer-herding family is implicitly confronted with the question of who is going to work with the reindeer and who is going to stay in the village, or move to town. Who is willing and able to work in reindeer herding? This question will be answered for each gender specifically because the criteria for women to work and live in tents differ from those for men. The remoteness of a rural community appears as one among various factors that influence the willingness of young people to work in reindeer husbandry. At first sight, this finding implies that there is a relation between lack of transportation and the existence of supposedly traditional life-styles. However, people work in reindeer husbandry not for the sake of tradition but in order to make a living. Chapter 8 examines the concept of tradition and other elements in the discourse around reindeer husbandry. The reindeer herders do not speak about tradition; instead, they define their ethos through experience. Those who try to promote reindeer husbandry in politics and international organisations use tradition as a discursive resource. The further one moves away from the tent, the more the concept of tradition gains political value. The arrangement of the chapters mirrors the journey from places where reindeer herding is actually done in practice, to places where the image of reindeer herding is crafted. In other words, the architecture of the thesis follows the pathways of the emergence of tradition as a discursive resource. While other peoples of the Russian North may be able to use ;md manipulate such traditional imagery, Komi reindeer herders are less likely to do so, for specific reasons: the Komi do not fulfil certain criteria linked to "indigenousness" in the Russian Federation; reindeer husbandry is not an ethnic marker for the Komi in general; and their involvement in reindeer husbandry started in comparatively recent times. While chapters 2 and 3 describe reindeer herding at "ground level", chapters 5 to 8 deal with various domains in the life-world of the reindeer herders and tent workers. Within each of these domains, the scope and quality of agency are discussed for various actors (members of reindeer-herding families, managers, oil companies, and politicians). After having shown what the choices are and how decisions are made, in the conclusion - 6 chapter 9 - I shall return to the issue of Komi reindeer herders' agency in a wider perspective. Ultimately, the prospects for reindeer herding depend on its attraction and viability, and these in turn depend on agency. In conclusion, I argue that gaining control of their own image is a vital requirement for the reindeer herders and their family members in order to develop a viable future. 1.3 Key concepts As key concepts in this thesis I am going to use agency and structure, resources, and tradition. Here I am going to explain these concepts. The concept of agency has been used in various senses, as is evident in the wide range of literature dealing with it (e.g. Ritzer 2000). I shall be using the word agency in a sense that comes close to the conceptualisations presented by Giddens (1984, cf Dietz and Burns 1992). My preference of Giddens' approach to the relation between agency and structure over other approaches is, in large part, based on his emphasis on "the active, reflexive character of human conduct" (1984: xvi)3. Thereby he provides more space for wilful power, or choice, than other sociological theoreticians. Agency, as I define it, is the potential (the power, the possibility) to make things happen. It is the potential to "make a difference" (Giddens 1984: 14) and to make a choice. Ultimately, it is the capability to act, to choose and decide over one's life and livelihood. Agency is not the instantiated action itself but the necessary condition underlying all occurrences of intentional actions. Agency in the sense as I am using it is not equal to power. In accordance with Dietz and Burns (1992: 190) power will be defined as "the ability to influence the situation so as to ensure that others behave as desired, that is, the ability to influence the rules upon which others act." Power, then, refers to actions that have an intended influence on other individuals, whereas agency in its intentionality is not necessarily directed towards any other individual but only to oneself. Further, agency may be expressed as the choice to abstain from any kind of action in a certain situation; in other words, agency may include the option of not doing anything. There are different kinds of agency and these are exerted in various domains. I shall give a few examples to illuminate this in the context of Komi reindeer husbandry. One kind of agency, for example, is contained in the practical skills of the individual reindeer 7 .. herder, which enable him to manage the reindeer herd, and in the operational skills of the state farm accountant to manage the accounts. Another kind lies in the preference for certain activities over others, such as the preference to spend one's time with fishing rather than with participating in a public hearing on potential impacts of the development of new oil fields. This may be understood as the option of abstaining from action. Thus, individuals ''may choose to withhold their voices - an act of silence or non-participation may equally express a position ... " (Wilson 2002b: 19-20, her emphasis). In terms of domains, this example shows that the individual prefers to exert his or her agency in the private rather than in the public domain. Yet another kind of agency is exemplified by the varying arrangements of the meat trade and meat consumption of the reindeer-herding brigades (these are discussed in chapter 6). Finally, the ability to speak the language of high-rank officials is also a specific kind of agency, one which obviously relates to the public domain. The latter kind of agency comes closest to the notion of power, although all four examples have implications for power relations in the social structure of the reindeer- herding enterprise and community. In what follows, I shall pitch the concept of agency against the concept of structure. The term "structure" will not be used frequently in the following chapters, but even so, implicitly "it is there" all the time; and it will have its come-back in the concluding chapter. For example, structure is inherent in the shape of the state farm or the different tiers of bureaucracy. Structure, as I understand it, is the state of affairs, the situation as a given. While structure is subject to change - and, in fact, is constantly changing - its main property is, nevertheless, persistence. Sometimes the persistence appears to be equal to inertia because there is apparently so little change. Nevertheless, this inertia itself may be endorsed by the agency of certain actors, as shall be exemplified by the story of the state farm which is centre stage for the protagonists of this thesis. Agency can "work" in either direction: continuity or change. Actors may challenge or promote the existing system of social relations. Structure provides pathways and possibilities as well as obstacles. Enabling and constraining are dialectic properties of the structure (Giddens 1984: 162). While structure often impedes or resists agency, it nevertheless constitutes the conditions without which agency could not occur. In addition, Giddens' s views about history are less teleological and unidirectional than those of others (1984: xxviii-xxix, 202, 227-260); which is essential for the discussion of tradition and modernity below (page 10). 8 In connection to the concept of agency and structure, I also wish to give a brief definition of the term "resources". Resources are elements or components of the structure that provide the preconditions for an actor to exert his or her agency. In order to realise a certain intention, one needs agency and resources together (even if the intention is "not to change" anything). Resources may be further distinguished as various types of capital: economic, social, cultural and symbolic (Ritzer 2000: 536, with reference to Bourdieu). Economic and social capital, in the context of Komi reindeer herding, are illustrated and discussed throughout chapters 5, 6 and 7. Economic and social capital relate predominantly to the practice of reindeer herding; while cultural and symbolic capital relate mainly to the image of reindeer herding, which I discuss in chapters 7 and 8. Below, we shall see that tradition, the other key concept of this thesis, may also serve as a resource, which may help to create cultural and symbolic capital. While the concept of agency and structure provides a general framework for the thesis, the concept of tradition is the one that I am going to problematise, particularly in chapters 8 and 9. "Tradition" can be defined in the sense of convention or routine, standards and rules (cf Shils 1997 [1958]; Boyer 1990; Hobsbawm 1983: 3)4. Some authors imply that traditions are received or handed down from one generation to another (e.g. Shils 1997: 105; the large body of literature on Traditional Environmental Knowledge provides many additional examples). For the discussion in this thesis, however, it is important to underline that traditions are not "received" or "handed down" through a process of transmission. Rather, they are learnt through practice, or to use Ingold's (2000) terms, acquired through enskilment. The process of acquiring skills and practical knowledge involves demonstration and observation, repetition and imitation. The individual is repeating and reinventing actions (including acts of speech) that other individuals have been carrying out before. The imitation need not be a fully accurate copy of the original. In fact, it may be dangerous to believe that the most accurate copy is the best (cf page 149 of the present thesis). Thus, while the repetitive character of an act permits us to take notice of its being part of a tradition, it "cannot afford to be invariant" (Hobsbawm 1983: 2). Tradition necessarily includes some flexibility and variance; yet at the same time it also presupposes endurance (Giddens 1994: 62). Tradition and structure, in the senses in which I use them, 4 Hobsbawm ( 1983: 3) emphasises that his own definition of tradition should be distinguished from con- vention or routine. 9 have one important quality in common: persistence. The relation between the notions of tradition and structure will be discussed in section 9 .2. If I speak about the "traditionalist paradigm", then I mean the reference to tradition in discourse, and a certain positive connotation of it in the discourse. Shils has called this "the search for a usable past" (1997: 106; cf Appadurai 1981; Bjerkli 1996; Lawson 1997). It is in this sense that "tradition" - or, to be more exact, the reference to tradition - may constitute a resource. Members of the so-called numerically small peoples in the Russian North (cf page 1) are able to utilise this resource, and often they do so successfully. My concern is to show that "tradition" turns out to be a problematic resource in the case of Komi reindeer herding. I also show that the perception of Komi reindeer herding as something "traditional" has been brought into political play by external actors. It has been the wider Soviet and Russian society - not the Komi reindeer herders themselves - that has found a "usable past" for them. To speak in analogy to Suzman about the Bushmen (2000: 9), the image of Komi reindeer herders has very little to do with the reindeer herders themselves, and a great deal to do with how Soviet and post-Soviet society has been constructing its own self-image (see section 9.3). This society conceives of itself as being "modem". In Soviet society, the values ascribed to progress and backwardness, derived directly from a view of history with markedly teleological character. In historical materialism and the "Marxist-Leninist" worldview, history flows in a unilinear direction from hunter- gatherer societies via various stages to capitalist society to socialist society and through to communist society. Even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the notion of a unilinear path of history and development has by no means suffered, since this very notion has been part and parcel of mainstream occidental thinking for the last 150 or so years, with the idea of evolutionism lurking in the background (cf Giddens 1984: 228-243 et passim). Although the idea of · progress and evolutionism is common to both socialist and mainstream capitalist thinking, I hold that in socialist thinking it was at its strongest because it was so strongly connected with social engineering. With Giddens (1984), Ingold (2000) and Thomas (1996) I share a critical stance towards the prevailing conception of history and evolution, but to discuss this stance in detail is beyond the scope of this study. To return to the issue of reindeer herding, I put forward the argument that a quite "modem" thing has been labelled "traditional" by certain people and for certain reasons, and these people and reasons will be identified more exactly throughout the following chapters. 10 Chapter 2 Tundra and forest Dramatis personae: page xv 2.1 The tent, the campsite and the inhabitants I cannot think of any object that is more central in the everyday life of Komi reindeer herders than the stove. The day in the tent usually starts with filling the stove with logs and lighting the fire. As the communal alarm clock rings, I have to get up and fulfil my duty while the other inhabitants of the tent are still more or less asleep. Time to look around meditatively in the dawn's twilight. Over long periods, the inside of the tent does not change, although it is taken down and set up again with every migration, and the landscape outside does change. Everything in the tent has its own place. I will briefly describe this "stage" as it looks in autumn, winter and spring, before the "protagonists" tum up. The conical tent, about seven or eight metres in diameter and almost equally high, has a clearly symmetrical interior state. The stove dominates the central axis that commences at the entrance of the tent. Wooden logs, the fuel supply, are piled up between the exit and the stove, although a small number of drier logs are placed under the stove in order to make the morning task of the stoker easier. The kettles and pots standing on the floor to the right and left of the stove are to be set onto it once it has started heating. In case they are not yet full, water can be found in the two milk-cans standing immediately behind the stove. Further on the same axis is the storage area for pots and pans and other kitchen sundries, and the end of the axis is so far away from the stove that (in winter and spring) the snow on the ground does not melt; and this is where the meat supply is kept. Indeed, within the tent the temperature goes down noticeably with every step away from the stove. The stove is supported by two planks, parallel to which there are four planks to the right and four to the left, constituting the floor of the tent. At this time of the day, the space they provide is occupied merely by a number of stools and wooden boxes. Two low tables, one on each side, stand close to the front end of the tent, waiting to be brought forward for breakfast. But the tent-mates are still behind some kind of curtains that occlude the remaining sectors, beyond the planks to the left and right, from sight. These linen curtains are fixed to the wooden poles that carry the felt cover of the tent. Hanging down from a height of approximately one metre, they appear to form small tents within the 11 tent proper. Two or three such sleeping compartments are situated on each side. Further, the eyes of the observer follow the wooden poles all the way up to their apex, where the stovepipe joins them. The felt cover does not stretch that high; some space is left where warm air flows out and skylight comes in .. Above the sleeping compartment, at head height, is the place where people have stuck their felt boots behind the poles. At the same height there are also four thin wooden beams fixed to some poles, forming a sort of square rack used for drying clothes and fur boots, and also sustaining the cord with a soapbox and a small metal vessel at its end, the latter serving as a kind of washstand. From there, the view goes down to the large metal bowl for waste-water, situated on the ground just between the stove door and the firewood. As the kettles are now boiling and warmth has crept into all comers of the abode, the willingness of the others to get up has increased. The first to do so are the women, who are deemed responsible for household affairs in general. To be honest, most days I did not get up first, but they; and usually, POLINA got up before TANIA. Both are tent workers (chum- rabotnitsa), according to the official name of their occupation. Each of them has a reindeer herder (pastukh) as partner, and the latter are considered the heads of the two households that are united under one tent. This represents the usual case of Komi reindeer husbandry. Each reindeer-herding unit (brigada) consists of one tent (chum, chom) and each tent comprises two sides (chom bok), functioning as two households: the left tent half and the right tent half. It is for this reason that there are two tables, two milk-cans, two meat mincers, etc. in the tent. The tent itself consists of two felt covers, two fur covers and two sets of wooden poles, but one needs both halves (households) to pitch it. One household alone cannot travel through the tundra. The iron stove and all other things related to the fire are the main objects that yoke the two households together. TANIA (who was 42 years old in spring 1999) is married to V ASILII ( 45), the senior herder in the tent by both his age and his professional status: he is head of the brigade (brigadir). POLINA ( 40) lives together with Iv AN (33), ~ ASILII's younger brother. Once POLINA has put her pots and kettles onto the stove, TANIA and TONIA (18), her niece, ought to get up, too. The three women prepare breakfast and place the two tables onto the planks, at the same time urging the others to rise. Once the men have got up, the women roll the bedding to the outer fringes of the tent and tie up the linen curtains: the tent has now its diurnal appearance, with two sitting areas, one on each side, padded with reindeer skins to loll on and the bedding at the back to lean against (see figure 2 on the following page). 12 During my stay with brigada N° 9 from April to July 1999, I (aged 30) lived on the left hand side of the tent and shared one sleeping compartment with TANIA'S and VASILII's son SASHA (19). TONIA included, there were five people on that side. IVAN, POLINA, her son ANDREI (18), another ANDREI (18) and LESHA (17), the two latter being rather distant relations of all other members of the brigada, occupied the right hand side. Thus, although the two halves of this tent maintain close family relations, within each household live individuals who are not necessarily closely related to each other. Furthermore, the composition of the two households changes quite often, for seasonal and other reasons. In early May, two more males joined the right hand side: Polina's second son VITKO (12) and her nephew, ZHEN'Ko (14). In late June, IRINA (18), TANIA and VASILII ' s daughter, arrived and it was planned she would stay until the end of her school holidays in early September. Figure 4 illustrates who lived where in the tent of brigada N° 9 while I was there, and also shows the main elements of the interior. Considering the number of women and men in each half of the tent, it will be understood that the households were managed in quite different ways. The two women in the left half could carry out the household work rather comfortably whereas there was a shortage of herders on this side, since SASHA was not considered an experienced herdsman. On the right hand side, POLIN A demanded the three youngest men (VITKO, ZHEN' KO and LESHA) help in all domestic affairs and established a system of kitchen duty shifts. The three older men on the right hand side were all quite experienced herders and, together Figure 2. Interior of the reindeer herders' tent, diurnal appearance. From left to right: table of the left tent side, food storage area, stove, stool and box on the floor- boards and the diurnal sitting area with bedding stored behind a pink cloth. (Near River Sandivei, 16 May 1999) 13 Figure 3. Entrance to the tent, with firewood stacked in front. Birch and spruce are used for fuel. TONIA is plucking a grouse that V ASILII had killed on his way back from the reindeer herd. Some of the left-hand side's sledges are visible in the back- ground. (Near River Sandivei, 9 May 1999) with VASILII, did the bulk of the herding work (see page 19). ZHEN'KO and LESHA counted as apprentice herders and LESHA, in particular, had a very heavy workload, being scolded and called a greenhorn (yando) time and again. Frequently, VASILII scoffed at LESHA because of his limited command of the local vernacular. People in the tent speak the northernmost dialect of Komi, although it is not uncommon that they switch to Russian and back to Komi in the middle of a conversation. Young herdsmen undergo a two-pronged treatment: they are supposed to be skilful and durable herders, yet at the same time, to fulfil the work in the tent in case there are few women, or none at all. When it comes to the number of women, brigada N° 9 is by no means typical of a Komi reindeer-herding brigade: many brigades have to get along with only one tent wor~er, and a few teams consist of men only. In those cases, the youngest members usually do all the cooking, clean the dishes, discard the garbage, make the beds in the evening and take them away in the morning, etc. All these activities are actually considered as women's work, but they have to be done, anyway. By the same token, women are generally able to do all the "male" tasks; such as sharpening the knives, chopping wood etc., killing animals; and they do perform this kind of work if need be and no man is at hand. Some activities depend not only on gender, but also on age; such as poking the fire, replenishing the supplies of water and firewood, which are all done by the younger members of the brigade. One of the few things that nowadays are done exclusively by women is, to the best of my knowledge, the mending of the tent covers. 14 OTTO SASHA TONIA lRINA front end kitchen equipment milk-cans rear end entrance/exit an wo den oxe pla ks Figure 4. Komi reindeer herders' tent in spring, autumn and winter. Reindeer-herding enterprise "Ust'-Usinskii", brigade N° 9. (June 1999) VITKO ZHENKO LESHA LYZHASA ANDREI TER' MISH ANDREI 15 OTTO SASHA TONlA l RTNA front end kitchen . equipment rear end entrance/exit Figure 4a. Komi reindeer herders' tent in summer. mil -ea pla ks Reindeer-herding enterprise "Ust'-Usinskii", brigade N° 9. (June-July 1999) V ITKO ZHENKO LESHA LYZHASA ANDREI TER' MISH ANDREI After breakfast, the men put on their boots and professional clothes, all of which are stored in the area next to the exit. Soon it will be time for the daily corral, but the reindeer are not yet here. While the women clean the dishes and sweep the tent, the men are busy with various tasks, or they just gang up around the sledges and smoke. They scan the camp and its surroundings, checking the whereabouts of the reindeer. As well as the tent, the campsite (chom mesta) has a spatial structure and the various items are arranged in a particular way. The tent is usually erected on an elevated spot: a place that offers a fairly good view in all directions in order to observe the movements of the herd. Most of the tundra is a rather wet place in summer, which makes it even more important to be on the top of a hill. Furthermore, the wind helps reduce harassment by insects. A source of firewood should be nearby; in summer the brigades have to content themselves with shrubby willows, in spring and autumn they tend to set up their camp near a forest island or a brook with birches. The cover of the tent corresponds to the season and the weather: the inner layer is made of felt, the outer layer consists of reindeer skins sewn together. The brigada people do not use this outer cover over the summer. Instead, they hoist canvas overlays and, during rain, additional nylon cladding. The segments of these various layers are fixed to the bottoms of the poles by means of ropes. The entrance and exit of the tent needs no special door or frame, but just two strong poles: as the comers of the felt and upper cover are half-loose at this point, one can flap them aside. The exit faces usually south or southwest or southeast, although there are no hard and fast rules about this, as the reindeer herders asserted. Adjacent to the exit is the "zone" of firewood production (figure 3). The birch and spruce trunks that have been hauled to the tent are cut and split here, the logs are then piled up in front of the tent. During the summer, when no birch and spruce wood is available, willow branches serve as fuel. Again, the young members of the brigade are responsible for collecting firewood, which was also one of my ·main duties. A few metres further is the place where the stove sledge is parked. There are many other sledges, standing to the right and left and behind the tent (figure 5). All of them have their particular purpose, as explained in appendix 1. Most conspicuous are the dozen sledges behind the tent arranged in two parallel lines with a net between them, the whole construction resembling a U-shaped form. This is the corral (yor) that in a couple of minutes will become the focus of the brigade's work. All these sledges are "freight" sledges, whereas the "passenger" sledges of the herders stand just outside the corral, on the right or left hand side in accordance with the residence of the herder within the tent. 16 D 3 "passenger" sledges (dad') CJ D D woman's sledge <.Mlls.) D D 4 freight sledges for various pur-poses ( dod ') Q Q Q "box" sledge (yashchik dod') Q bedding sledge (siabucha) site of small tent for washing ,-- ' ' D D D D D 6 freight sledges for various pur- poses (dod ') 6 freight sledges for various pur- poses ( dod ') corral (vQr) net (kulom) D D D D D sledge for planks (lata dod') sledge for planks (latadod') D .._--1..:..·1_e~ ce and exit (ohos) D D 3 "passenger" sledges (dad') D D woman's sledgeo (biilk) 4 freight sledges for various pur- poses (dod') D 0 0 0 " box" sledge 0 (yashchik dod') bedding sledgeo (siabucha) site of small tent for washing ,-- ' '. I : \ I , __ ofhom-,u,hn I I . \ I , __ dry and fresh firewood 1rm place of collecting snow or water ~ block (plakha), D stove sledge (kort pach dod') (uncut firewood) l trunks or twigs Figure 5. Komi reindeer herders' camp in spring (generalised ground plan). Reindeer-herding enterprise "Ust'-Usinskii", brigade N° 9. (June 1999) place of collecting snow or water ~ 17 On this day in mid-May, SASHA has left the tent before the others, during breakfast. He is looking for the "oxen" and will drive them to the tent. An "ox" (byk in Russian and in this specific sense also used in Komi) is a castrated reindeer trained to pull a sledge. The oxen constitute only a small part of the brigade's reindeer, but they are kept separately from the others so as to avoid their intermingling, except in winter, when oxen are needed on few occasions only. Indeed, each Komi reindeer-herding brigade has actually two herds, and I shall refer to them henceforward as: the small herd, comprising the oxen; and the large herd with all other deer (collectively called kor in the Komi language). Throughout their migrations, the herders and all other members of the brigade travel by sledge - in winter as well as in summer, on the snow as well as over the hillocks and wetlands. Without the oxen, the entire reindeer-herding menage would be basically immobilised. Collecting the oxen and penning them is done every day from mid-April to December and occasionally over the rest of the year, whenever they are required for transportation. SASHA is walking behind the oxen, driving them slowly towards the tent. One or two dogs assist him by guarding the flanks. While the oxen are approaching the campsite, all other members of the brigade get ready for the penning. Standing with two long ropes in their hands (like pearls on a chain), they funnel the small herd into the corral. Then they close the corral with their ropes and block the exit with a second net: the pen is now closed. Everybody is guarding the exit, unless they are working in the interior of the corral (figure 6). Depending on their plans for the day, some of the men (and, less frequently, the Figure 6. Selecting sledge reindeer (voras'ny). Various herdsmen are working inside the corral while other members of the brigade guard the fence, which is made of a fishing net and a number of rods. (Near River Sandivei, 14 May 1999) 18 women), select three or more oxen, tie them together, lead them out of the corral to their personal sledge and harness them. Today, only V ASILII and the two ANDREis put oxen to their sledges; all other people will stay by the tent. Selecting nine oxen does not take a long time and the whole penning business is done within approximately half an hour. The remaining oxen are let loose and trot away peacefully. Before V ASILII, ANDREI and ANDREI set off, everybody goes back to the tent again to have their second breakfast. Each meal finishes with tea and rusks ( or bread, if available) and a cigarette. There are quite a number of occasions when the herders discuss the herd's business, but the cigarette breaks after the meals are particularly useful for briefings. As VASILII, the brigadir, will tend the large herd today, and will not be back until the next morning, he is giving some final instructions to the other herders before taking off. A herder's shift lasts 24 hours. On arriving at the place where the large herd is, VASILII will relieve Iv AN, who had left the camp the morning before. Depending on how far away the large herd is, Iv AN may be expected to get back to the camp in the early afternoon. The tending of the small herd is done in 24-hour shifts, too. SASHA, who had been responsible for the oxen until this moment, is superseded by the two apprentice herders LESHA and Zhen'ko. The frequency of the shifts is dependent on the number of herdsmen in the brigade. In this one, Iv AN, V ASILII, ANDREI and ANDREI tend the large herd consecutively. The duty of herding the oxen passes from SASHA to LESHA plus ZHEN'KO, then to the one ANDREI and finally to the other ANDREI. The two latter, in spite of their only slight seniority are already much more experienced in herding than the other youths, have their shifts every second day, alternating between the large and small herds. This does not mean, however, that they enjoy much relaxation during the intervening days. The professional ethos of the brigade members, regardless whether women or men, implies almost constant work from early till late, and sometimes also during the night. This is how Komi reindeer herders and tent workers like to see themselves: they are proud of their ability to endure adverse conditions and overcome difficulties through inventiveness and experience. Reindeer husbandry is very unlike an eight-and-a-half-hours job. For weeks and months, the brigades work entirely on their own, their bosses being ultimately unable to exert any effective control over them. Times of double or triple workload are compensated by times of complete languor, or exuberance. Not today, though. The two ANDREis are going to fell a number of spruce trees some kilometres away, procuring the raw material for new sledge runners. 19 Those remaining in the camp are occupied with various things. TONIA is cutting and mincing meat, TANIA and POLINA are sewing. I am shovelling snow, putting it into a large bag and dragging it into the tent. Then I put it into "our" milk-can where it will slowly melt. LESHA gets the water supply for the other half of the tent and feeds the dogs of the whole camp with a sort of leftover soup. SASHA, ZHEN'Ko, VITKO and I are then told by the two ladies to fetch some firewood. We take our axes, walk down to a birch grove and fell two dozen or so trees, experiencing some difficulties because of the high and quite slushy snow. This fact provides us with a pretext for repeated cigarette breaks. We experience yet more difficulties while dragging the birch trunks back to the tent: the additional weight on our shoulders makes us sink into the snow with almost every move. Having finished this task, VITKO and I saw the trunks into pieces, which undergo a further treatment by SASHA and the wood-chopper. Meanwhile, POLINA has got LESHA to remove the inner side from a hide, which takes him most of the day. LESHA and ZHEN'Ko's herding task has not yet begun: during the day, the oxen are set free and permitted to roam around, and the actual shift begins when the other members of the brigade go to bed. Iv AN arrived in the early afternoon and all the people who are in or around the tent "drink tea" (the Russian and Komi word for tea, chai, is used for every meal throughout the day), each person in her or his part of the tent. IVAN may retire now, whereas the others continue their sundry activities. Two or three hours later, ANDREI and ANDREI are back, too, and they may now enjoy their delayed lunch. There are still many hours of daylight left on this May evening, and Iv AN, ANDREI and ANDREI decide to spend some time improving their sledges and building new ones. The new sledge runners come in handy, as the one ANDREI is just finishing his new dad '. We younger males follow his construction work with much attention, and from time to time Iv AN comes around to give his advice. At this time of the year, all the men are more or less busy with sledge building. Further ahead, spruce will be sparse and crooked; timber convenient for sledge building will no longer be available. Although the light fall of snow is now getting heavier, the men are still outside, as is POLIN A, who unties one of the sledges in her search for an extra pair of wader boots. The wet season is just about to start. After the last "tea" of the day, LESHA and ZHEN'Ko prepare themselves for their night shift. Like all members of the brigade who leave the tent for a longer time, they receive their "packed lunch" from POLINA: a kettle, tea and sugar, rusks and butter, perhaps some sweets, or some more substantial fare . Never forget your axe, your knife and your matches when you go out. Iv AN has permitted them to take a rifle with them; they might 20 shoot the odd goose and diversify tomorrow's menu. The others call it a day, but as it is a bit early to go to bed, Iv AN engages me in a chat about his military service in Mongolia and fumbles about with his radio, trying with eventual success to catch Moscow on short wave. POLIN A and TANIA inquire about my parents and other relations. SASHA examines the sheath of my knife from Finland, decorated with a sketch showing a Saami reindeer- herding motif. The two ANDREis try to repair a tape with Russian pop music; VITKO, on the contrary, tries for some reason to deconstruct my dictating machine; and TONIA is just observing what the others are up to. A peaceful evening around the stove, the centre of the tent - the tent itself playing a central role in the lives of these people. While it may seem that they are forlorn in the tundra, in fact they are interested in, and connected with, the outside world in numerous ways. In the following sections and chapters, I shall describe the various spheres of the world surrounding them, starting with the tundra as the brigade's immediate environment, moving on to the villages and towns in the north of the Komi Republic, and then beyond. 2.2 The practice of reindeer husbandry in the various seasons 2. 2.1 Spring A convenient start for the description of the annual cycle of Komi reindeer husbandry is early April, when the herders and tent workers resume their migrations after a time of hibernal "immobility". In early 1999, the winter camp of brigada N° 9 was located some ten kilometres away from an oil well with an all-year road connection to the south of the Sandivei oil field (see figure 1). The road alleviates travelling between the camp and the village. On 17 April, the driver from the former state farm drove PoLINA, ANDREI and me to the oil well, where we were met by the other ANDREI and SASHA with their sledges. There we changed our clothes and got into those heavy reindeer-fur overcoats (malitsa, malicha) typical of Komi and Nenets reindeer herders. We set off for a half-hour drive to the tent. On our arrival, it was V ASILII who decided first th1ng that I would stay in the left hand half and work together with his son SASHA. After ten days, we moved the tent to a site some 15 kilometres away. The procedure of breaking the tent, putting things on sledges, arranging the sledges into half a dozen trains, travelling to a new place, and pitching the tent again, is described in detail in appendix 1. Driving a sledge is fairly easy if one is behind somebody else. I remember well that midway we experienced a snow- storm: while I was driving my sledge I could not see the sledge train in front of me, yet the 21 oxen I was given by V ASILII just followed the tracks of the preceding reindeer and I was made confident by the constant tinkle of the bell of one of the oxen of the preceding train. Before early May we moved two more times. The snow is crusty at this time of the year and driving is easy, so the brigada people can travel quickly over large distances. They try to make use of this advantage by frequent and comparatively long migrations. The migration route (vorga) leads along frozen swamps and through open patches amid the forest. Driving through the thicket is scarcely possible because the snow is too deep and not crusty enough. The forests to the north of the rivers Usa and Pechora consist mainly of spruce and birch, the latter becoming more dominant as one proceeds northwards. As the vegetation is generally scarcer in the forest tundra, spruce and birch stands are interspersed between large areas of open land, forming forest islands. Spruce and birch trees also nestle in the shallow valleys of the numerous rivers and rivulets. The combination of open and forested areas is ideal for the reindeer in this season: in periods of harsh snowstorms they can retire to the fringe of, or into, the forest islands. Usually, though, the gregarious animals gather in open areas. Throughout the winter and until May, the reindeer are on short commons. Lichen is the main forage resource. Arboreal lichen can be found in the forest islands; lichen on the ground is widespread and the reindeer dig holes in the snow in order to get hold of it. The crust of snow that provides for good driving conditions can, at the same time, cause severe problems for the animals: if the crust is too solid, the reindeer cannot succeed in breaking it with their hooves and cannot reach the ground lichen. This can bring on the starvation of a significant part of the herd. Dearth of forage also occurred in spring 1999, when I migrated with brigada N° 9. The spring of 1999 was a quite unusual and difficult one. Although we had a rainy day on 21 April ( still on the winter pasture) and some sunny days now and then, in general the temperature stayed below zero and snow fell as late as 14 June. There was a delay in the phenology by three or four weeks, and the growing period of vegetation was equally belated. From 5 to 20 May we stayed put and from 28 May to 16 June again, with one short migration on 9 June, which was definitely the hardest throughout this spring. Several circumstances came together: firstly, further to the north the crust of S.Q.OW was so solid that it did not make sense to move any further. Secondly, as the growth of the vegetation was retarded, there was no point in migrating into an area with even more snow and less forest islands. At this time of the year the reindeer are emaciated after the long winter without fresh forage and what they need foremost are green leaves and shoots, as I was told by 22 VASILII. Moreover, the calving season commenced in the last week of May (also four weeks later than in a usual year) and the herd had to have a rest, the young calves not yet being able to travel large distances. To aggravate the situation, with the thawing of the snow, the period of slush set in and lasted until mid-June. At the beginning of June, the people in the tent were in quite low spirits: a number of calves had already died, the large herd tended to disperse in search for hillocks bare of snow, the oxen became increasingly lethargic, and the slush made walking, driving and herding very cumbersome. On 2 June, I wrote in my diary: "We wait for the time when driving gets easier and reindeer can find more fresh forage. The bushes are still covered by snow, and further ahead there are hardly any trees" ( and therefore no firewood) . On 18 and 19 June, we finally witnessed the harbingers of the summer: the fust mosquitoes and the break-up of the ice on the River Kolva-Vis, the left bank of which we were following for a couple of weeks. I shall say some words about the calving, for it is a highly important and work- intensive period in the annual cycle of reindeer husbandry. As a rule, calving starts in the second half of April and continues throughout the month of May. It is said that the animals have a good sense of where their calving grounds are and the herders try to be there with the herds in time. Forest islands provide the best calving grounds. When the first calves are born, the herders stay day and night with the large herd, i. e. a herder's 24-hour shift is spent entirely on the calving ground. They have to find the newborn animals and make sure that the doe does not leave the calf in the lurch5• A calf is able to stand on its feet in the very first minutes after its birth (see figure 7), but it walks with a clumsy gait and if the herd moves at all, it moves slowly. To give some numbers for a typical calving season, a herd of 1000 animals altogether (among them 500 or 550 does) will increase to 1350 animals after calving. Unfortunately, 1999 was a bad year for reindeer husbandry in this region, and half of the calves perished in the course of the calendar year through starvation, predation or other kinds of "unproductive" loss6• Brigada N° 9 fared little better than the average brigade. 5 6 A doe that gives birth for the first time is sometimes scared by the dark colour of the calf and might not accept it as hers; instead she might try to drive it away (Konakov, Kotov and Sharapov 1992: 29). Newborn calves are never slaughtered, but the herders kill them if they have no chance of surviving, for example when the calf has a broken leg. Such calves, as well as those that are found dead on the pasture, are skinned and the fur can be used for embroidery etc. The people give the meat of these calves to the dogs and do not eat it themselves. The same rnle applies to all other reindeer that have died from causes other than human interference. 23 Figure 7. Female reindeer with her calf. (Near Konkovbr, 30 May 1999) To alleviate the calving, the herders keep the oxen separate from the large herd (see above, page 18). This separation takes place some days before leaving the winter pasture. After we had left the winter camp, but before the beginning of the calving, the members of the brigade had to do another important job: on 28 April, we selected "new" oxen from among the animals of the large herd. For this purpose, the herders drive the large herd to a place that is naturally enclosed on two or three sides, for example by a wooded river bank; the remaining sides are guarded by all the other inmates of the tent and the dogs. The herdsmen are in the centre of this "arena", using their lassoes to catch young males. (One can easily distinguish between males and females : male reindeer shed their antlers every March or April whereas the females lose them only after the calving season). The prospective oxen are integrated into the small herd. Some days later, they are harnessed for the first training session. Each animal starts its training between two experienced oxen. Some time after the new ox has joined the small herd it will be castrated. The herder who caught the animal does the training and castration, and he is henceforward considered as 24 Figure 8. Young herder carrying a tree trunk for sledge building. He will carve it into a sledge runner (siu). (Near Sandivei, 2 May 1999) the person who has the right to use this ox, or to let other people use it. That day in late April, LESHA was extremely proud that he had caught an ox for himself; it was the first time in his life and a major event on his path towards becoming a herdsman. From April to mid-June, all the male members of the brigade spent most of their "leisure" time mending their sledges and building new ones. Among the most essential parts are the sledge runners, the making of which requires large, crooked spruce trunks as shown in figure 8. Such trees cannot be found any further to the north. When we passed the Figure 9. Sledge building. The senior herder is fitting one of the three pairs of legs (po([) plus crosspiece~) into the pair of runners (siu). The junior herders hold two poles with ropes, which produce the tension and curvature of the runners. (Near River Sandivei, 11 May 1999) 25 former hamlet of Konkovor, I was told this is the site of the "last" forest. Consequently, the herders have no chance of finding suitable building material for sledge runners (and other sledge details) between June and December. Hence the men's frenzied sledge building throughout the spring (figure 9). TANIA, TONIA and POLINA were busy with sewing and the scraping of skins, but towards the end of spring their main task was to mend the tent covers (figure 10), which was going to be stored away a fortnight later. At the peak of the thaw, the rivers open up and swell, and even a harmless little brook can become extremely risky. One of the rivulets that we forded in June is known to the reindeer people as Siabucha-Shor - "brook of the bedding-sledge" - because a long time ago, that sledge turned upside down and all the bedding got wet. The herders know by experience where to ford the rivers. Each train of sledges passes the valley slowly and carefully; an extra rope is fixed to the collar of the leading ox and thrown to the other bank, where VASILII or IVAN catch it in order to tug the oxen across the river (see figure 11). Reindeer are good swimmers, but show some resistance to do so when harnessed. The opening-up of the rivers also means the beginning of the fishing season. Ice fishing is not common among herdsmen when being on the trek: rather they do some occasional fishing in the warmer period of the year and only when time allows. With the arrival of wild geese and other migratory bird species, the men start shooting birds and collecting the eggs that they find in nests all over the forest tundra and tundra. The trapping of willow grouse already began some weeks earlier. Fresh fish, poultry and eggs diversify Figure 10. Mending the tent covers. Before the outer tent cover (niuk) , which is made of reindeer fur, is stored away at the reindeer-herding enterprise's main corral, the tent workers do all necessary repairs and also mend the inner tent cover (noi), which is made of felt. (Near Konkovor, 15 June 1999) 26 Figure 11. Fording a river. (Yarei-Shor near Kolva-Ty, 29 June 1999) the menu of the brigada people, which consists mainly of reindeer meat, frozen fish, and food products from the village: bread or rusks, flour, rice, potatoes, canned vegetables, tea, sugar and sweets. In the last days of June (again, three weeks later than in an average year), the life of the herders and tent workers got comparatively busy. We had reached the "corral" (koral '). In this case, I do not speak about the corral behind the tent that is used for the everyday penning of oxen, but about the corral of the reindeer-herding enterprise, which the entire herd is driven into twice a year for several purposes. The so-called spring corral is carried out for earmarking the newborn calves, counting the animals and vaccinating them against anthrax. During the autumn corral, animals are selected for slaughter and again, the workers of the enterprise compile statistics on the number of deer. All the herds of the enterprise pass the corral one after another. The spring corral takes some two weeks whereas the autumn corral lasts for approximately four weeks, because the slaughter is more work-intensive7• The spring and autumn corrals are an integral part of the annual cycle of the brigade's activities, yet what makes them so special is the fact that, for a short time, the herders and tent workers encounter their bosses and other workers . who, throughout the 7 Work in the corral takes one or perhaps two days per herd; the next brigade will arrive three or five days later. The tent of the brigade whose herd is in the corral is set up some kilometres away from the corral. The herders commute between tent and corral by sledge. The oxen are not driven into the corral but graze close to the tent. 27 year, live in the village. In other words, the enterprise is taking stock; and the people who live with the reindeer undergo a period of accountability. Yet at the same time, the herders actively engage in trade, most prominently in connection with the cutting and marketing of antlers, which is also done in connection with the spring corral (cf section 6.1). Furthermore, for the members of the brigade the corral is not only work, decision- making and marketing - it is an enjoyable event, too: a time of socialising and partying, a time for exchanging news and memories with members of the other brigades and people from the village. The tents of the various brigades are now all located in the surroundings of the corral, some kilometres apart from it and from each other, and people make frequent visits to their "neighbours". 2. 2. 2 Summer Before leaving the corral, the brigada people make preparations for the summer. The heavy outer cover of the tent will not be needed over the next few months and it is stored in a shed where all the brigades have their own compartments. The inner appearance of the tent has markedly changed. The central element that I had cherished so much in the cold days (and in the first lines of this chapter) - the stove - has been replaced by an open fire. Various reasons explain this modification: the smoke of the open fire reduces the number of mosquitoes in the tent. The fuel has changed, too. We have finally left the forest tundra and there are hardly any spruce or birch trees available, so instead of split logs the tent mates use chopped branches and twigs of shrubby willow as fuel for cooking. On the central axis that connects the front end of the tent with the exit, two solid poles stretch from the ground to the apex. At head height, two wooden beams are fixed. They run parallel to each other and support iron hooks, at the lower end of which the pots and kettles are hung above the fire. For the time being, the stove and the stovepipe are stored on their sledge. Instead ofleaving the stove sledge at the corral, VASILII's oxen take it as part of his train of sledges to the next important station along the migration route, Lake Servis-Ty. I left brigada N° 9 at the corral and returned to the south, thus for my description of the summer in the tundra I have to rely mainly on what I was told by the brigada people and other interviewees, and previous studies of reindeer husbandry in this region8• Apart from the interior of the tent, also the herd management and driving techniques change. The herders unite the small herd (the oxen) with the large herd (all other animals) soon after Istomin 1998 and 2000, Kertselli 1911, Konakov (Ed.) 1994, Konakov, Kotov and Sharapov 1992. 28 leaving the spring corral. There are two explanations for this. On the one hand, with the increase of insects the reindeer get more nervous; herding one herd becomes more difficult, but herding two herds almost impossible, in particular because a small herd can easily disintegrate when harassed by insects. On the other hand, the calves are now sufficiently grown up and will not be trampled by the o{her reindeer when the animals undergo the procedure of selecting the oxen, which is now done differently again. Driving conditions in the now snowless tundra require more draught animals: five or six oxen are harnessed in front of the first sledge in the train, and three in front of each subsequent sledge in the train. The migration route leads along and across mossy hillocks as well as through shallow pools and puddles and muddy peatlands. Most of the time, the vorga is clearly visible: it resembles a rough track in the flat and treeless parts of the Scottish Highlands. Crooked branches of shrubby birches and willows and the numerous knolls make driving a daunting task, and it is difficult to keep one's balance when sitting on the sledge. Nevertheless, the whole migration gradually picks up more speed. The brigade moves camp almost every single day. The main concern of the herders is to lead the animals northward as quickly as possible in order to get to cooler and windier places that are less affected by insects, the main foe all over the summer. On days of extreme harassment, the reindeer instinctively congregate and form a circle: the further an animal is away from the centre of the circle, the quicker it runs around it. The circle protects the animals at the centre from the gadflies and mosquitoes while those at the fringe share the brunt of the plague. Days with warm southerly winds are particularly bad because the reindeer herd runs against the wind, trying to get rid of the insects, and moves into the "wrong" direction for dozens of kilometres. Herding the animals on such days is next to impossible, let alone harnessing them. On the way northward, brigada N° 9 passes the lake system of Vashutkino and stays a couple of days at Lake Servis-Ty (on the maps recorded under its Nenets name: Seres'- To ). This is where BORODA ("The Beard") lives, an elderly and, as I was told, eccentric sort of hermit who stays in the tundra for most of the year. , BORODA is known all over the tundra, from the Urals to the lower Pechora, because his "premises" are the crossroads of reindeer herders and fishermen who come there from all directions. Townspeople, mainly from Vorkuta, spend a couple of weeks here to fish and barter with the herders. The latter appreciate this opportunity for filling up their supplies. The brigade then proceeds further to the Karataika valley. The Karataika is the largest and deepest river on the way from the winter to the summer pastures and crossing it is one of the most adventurous happenings in 29 the annual cycle of reindeer herding. Whoever has taken part in it remembers it very well. It may take a whole day to get across. People inflate their rubber dinghies and take everything aboard that is not waterproof. They hold the reins of the draught animals that swim behind the boat, pulling the floating sledges across the river. Once a small number of deer has entered the river, the others do not hesitate any longer to swim across, too. After this episode, the herds and people migrate speedily to the actual summer pastures, which are located roughly 100 kilometres away, not far from the coast of the Kara Sea. In summer 1999 though, brigada N° 9 did not manage to go that far north. In fact, they did not even cross the Karataika. This was due to the delayed beginning of the warm period. Had they gone much further, they would not have been back to the autumn corral in time. The neighbouring brigades had similar difficulties. The herds reach the northernmost point of their annual migration in mid-July. For almost three weeks, the herds and brigades do not move very much. Often it happens that on the way to the summer grazmg grounds, the herds intermingle (owing to harassment by insects) and they will be separated no earlier than in the autumn corral. The brigades whose animals have intermingled set up their tents in immediate vicinity and do the herding work together. Thus, brigada N° 9 and brigada N° 10 spent the summer and autumn together. The head of the latter, ZHENIA, is a nephew of both VASILII and IVAN, and the inmates of the two tents visit each other very often. We will meet ZHENIA again in later paragraphs and chapters. People think that he is a good herder, considering his young age (in 1999, he was 22 years old). Like the older herders, he commands a thorough knowledge of the migration route and in addition, he has been a regular visitor to settlements to the right and left of the actual route, for example the military base Amderma on the very shore of the Kara Sea. Such visits are not only a welcome break from herding, but also chances to barter vodka, which is needed for the social event lying ahead. Saint Elias' s Day (/I 'in den, II 'ia lun ), 2 August, is a major holiday and also designates the turning point in the annual cycle. The reindeer people decide in advance where to meet for the festivities, the highlight of which is the obligatory sledge race. In previous years, the leading managers of the reindeer-herding enterprise and the district officials (Department of Agriculture) have hired a helicopter and visited the herders and tent workers for a couple of hours. "The helicopter" has a very specific significance in the everyday life of the brigada people: for them, it is a link to their relatives in the village, a source of supply, a moment of sudden farewells and unexpected welcomes. Helicopters 30 have names: apart from the "Elias-Day Helicopter", there are two "Children's Helicopters" that bring the children of school age in early June - like IRINA - and take them away by 1 September. However, as transportation costs have become ever steeper over the 1990s, the managers have begun to think twice about whether the enterprise can afford to send out a helicopter on 2 August, and the low number of helicopters causes much concern among the brigada people. Helicopters used to be a resource people could rely on, but now they are rare opportunities. 2.2.3 Autumn Soon after 2 August, the brigades start their migration back south. Autumn has set in and from 20 August onwards, the herders on duty are permitted to have a nap in the tent when the weather is unfavourable. The tundra is now draped with ripe cloudberries, cowberries, cranberries etc., and the women spend many an hour picking them. Mushrooms are abundant, too, but the brigada people do not appreciate them. In fact, herding is becoming difficult again: the reindeer have an exceptional hankering after mushrooms and can trace them over considerable distances. It is not uncommon that animals become victims of their zest for mushrooms and ultimately get lost, or reappear in other herds. Apart from rain, snow may occur any day during the summer, but in late September, it starts lasting on the tundra. Shortly before this, the herds pass Servis-Ty again and receive a prophylactic vaccination against the eggs and larvae of gadflies. The brigada people pick up the stove sledge and continue their migration in a southwesterly direction. The rutting season is now in full swing, which means that the herders must work intensively to immobilise the most aggressive bucks and look after the nervous herd. Prior to my stay with brigada N° 9, I had the chance of accompanying their relatives in brigada N° 10 for twelve days in November 1998. They were approaching the "autumn corral" but had to wait for a couple of days because the corral people were still busy with "processing" two preceding herds. Apart from ZHENIA (22), who was not yet head of the brigade at that time, there were seven more people in the terit: STEPAN (46), his wife LIUBA (45) and their son KOSTIA (16), the then brigadir VITALII (ea 35), his wife LIUDA (ea 30) and Andrei, called ONDRIUK (16), a nephew of both STEPAN and VITALII. Finally, there was IZHMA FED' (Fedor Ivanovich Kanev), whose advanced age (66), eventful biography and very peculiar manners could call for an extra chapter. He is not related to any of those named above, but comes from a different place (Izhma) and joined brigada N ° 10 many years ago, for reasons that have sunk into oblivion or are not to be talked about. IZHMA 31 FED' has no connections with his relatives and lives in the tent throughout the winter, with one or two short breaks in the village of his tent-mates. If there is any "true" nomad among the Komi reindeer herders, then it is most likely IZHMA FED', because he actually does not care about village life (whereas the others do). LIUDA and VITALII had been on sick-leave and arrived in the tent some days after me, and until that time brigada N° 10 lived with only one tent worker. The tables were placed between the two halves of the tent, and all meals were taken commonly. It was LIUBA with whom I spent most of the day and from whom I learned a lot about cooking and family ties. The men gave me some lessons in sawing wooden panels, which they had taken from an abandoned oil-drilling site. However, one after another, the herdsmen departed to the corral and, for some strange reason, did not come back. The tent was almost destitute of men and the remaining inhabitants wondered what might have happened. After three days, the men came back and reported that the head of another brigade had committed suicide while staying at the corral. Apart from the grief, this death had one important consequence: VITALII and LIUBA joined that other brigade and ZHENIA was designated as the new head of brigada N° JO. This also put an end to the aggravating personal conflicts between some of the members of the brigade, most notably between the two tent workers9• Two days later, brigada N° 10 drove the reindeer into the "autumn corral" and ZHENIA was already the acting, albeit not official, head of the brigade: he did his job at the gate of the central chamber of the corral, identifying the animals and deciding which of them would go for slaughter. Thus, he acted as the executive in the most decisive moment of the brigade's activities (most decisive at least from the managers' point of view). The slaughter and the "statistics" of the reindeer-herding enterprise are the focus of chapter 6. 2. 2. 4 Winter The slaughter usually comes to an end in the first days of December and the brigades have got only one month to move to their winter pastures: the brigada people want to celebrate New Year and Christmas (7 January for Orthodox Christians) in the village; it must just be decided who will stay with the herd over the holidays. In 1998-99, brigada N° 9 had their winter camp in the northern part of the forest. Brigada N° 10 went deeper into the forest, because they wanted to have the tent close to the village. The camp was set up on the 9 Cf lstomin (2000: 73) who describes the competitiveness between tent workers as intrinsic to the social structure of the tent, while the same structure also makes the herdsmen to identify themselves as a team. I agree with his point and will expand on this in chapter 7. 32 fringe of a frozen swamp, only 25 kilometres from the settlement, a distance that can be covered by snowmobile (buran) in about two and a half hours. The animals are never taken into the village - not nowadays; whereas forty years ago, a reindeer sledge in front of the village bakery was still a common thing. For most herders and tent workers, winter is a time of getting supplies, living in the village, having a rest, and refreshing one's social ties within the village community (see chapter 3). In January and February 1999, there were only up to three herdsmen, and no tent worker, in the tent of brigada N° 9. SASHA was the only one who stayed there nearly all the time; he was not particularly keen on going to the village anyway. The other herdsmen worked shift-wise and got lifts from the nearby oil well to the village and back again. The tent of brigada N° 10 was sometimes entirely empty: the herder on duty slept in the village, travelled the short distance to the tent in the morning, identified the location of the herd, checked whether things were alright and went back to the village in the evening. One weekend, to the contrary, the tent was full with young men, who took the opportunity to have a party outside the social control of their fellow villagers. Over the winter, only a few herdsmen are needed to maintain the herd. The reindeer do not disperse very much and move about comparatively slowly. However, the herders have to be vigilant to prevent the deer from falling prey to a wolf or a bear, and the remainder of the herd from being scattered to the four winds. Once or twice every week, the herder responsible takes a couple of dogs and skis around the herd to make it more compact, or drives them a few kilometres further to ensure that the animals find enough forage. He should also make sure that the pasture is not covered with too much snow, otherwise the animals lose too much energy when digging through to the ground. In March, when the hardest frosts are finally waning and the period of daylight is growing, life in the tent becomes more active again. The herders prepare for the departure in April (they repair the sledges etc.) and the tent community is gradually congregating. The supplies that people bought for the new migration season are transported from the village to the camp, where the tent workers distribute the lo1:1d between the different freight sledges. With the day when the brigade leaves the winter camp, the annual cycle has come to completion and starts afresh. Da capo. 33 2.3 Spatial mobility and the life-world of Komi herdspeople For reindeer-herding families, mobility is a necessity. By the same token, mobility enlarges the remit of the family's activities. Notwithstanding the spatial and temporal limitations of the herders' migrations, the very condition of migrating entails a certain flexibility and freedom. Reindeer-herding families, and herdsmen in particular, are aware of their special vocation and they feel proud of their skills and experience in the tundra. In this section, I shall analyse how the brigada members themselves perceive and describe the spatial aspects of the practice of reindeer husbandry. I have shown that the tent is the centre of the reindeer herders' and tent workers' life- world. Yet it is not the only centre. The house in the village, too, is central to the brigada people's livelihood and life experience (see chapter 3). Every Komi family whose members are engaged in reindeer husbandry has two household "bases": one in the village and one in the camp. In comparison with the other inhabitants of the village, though, the reindeer herders and tent workers have a very specific spatial range of everyday activities. The average village dweller knows the village itself, its closer surroundings, some neighbouring settlements and the district centre. The local fishermen know the rivers and lakes and many of them travel more than a hundred kilometres to get to their fishing grounds. Yet the brigada people know, not only the village, the district centre etc., but. every year they travel at least 400 kilometres from southwest to northeast, and all the way back again. Most of the distance is covered by reindeer-hauled transport. The brigada people cross vast and roadless expanses, they feel at home where other people would feel entirely lost; and (at least, the older among them) have been several times to the shores of the Kara Sea, a place that in the cognition of most village inhabitants seems to be even further away than Moscow. Thus, the _ reindeer herders and tent workers "enjoy" a spatial mobility much greater than that of their village neighbours. They also feel that they enjoy more freedom. On the other hand, the movements of the brigada people are confined by the migration route and grazing "corridor" that is allotted to their reindeer-herding enterprise. With regard to the late spring and early autumn pastures, these corridors can be as narrow as 12 kilometres. The migration route itself, the vorga, is visible even to the most inexperienced yando for a considerable part of the year. At any rate, the older herders know their route by heart. The younger herdsmen, who do not yet know it sufficiently well, should learn it. Interviewees told me that it takes more than five years to memorise the migration route. 34 Basically this mobility extends over one spatial dimension only, and every brigada is supposed to proceed in this way. However, there is also a second kind of mobility - a privilege of the older herdsmen. It struck me that the older herders had a very good knowledge of what is to be found to the left and right of their corridor whereas the young ones had not yet had opportunities to explore the space beyond the corridor. I believe that this is an important element of the education of an apprentice herdsman: the older herders will not let him travel the "byways" before he has gained enough competence to master the "main road". Obviously, the older the herder, the more experienced is he. "Experienced" means, in this case, well-travelled. Being an older herdsman gives you the privilege of visiting the brigades of other reindeer-herding enterprises that have their corridors adjacent to yours. The head of brigada N° 9, V ASILII, knows many of those neighbouring brigades; moreover, throughout the spring he appeared to have up-to-date intelligence about the presence of fishermen at various sites far beyond the borders of the own corridor. Herders like ZHENIA or the two ANDREis occupy an intermediate position: they have reached a work stage where they are permitted to make excursions to the nearest oil workers' base, or even to the military base on the coast of the Kara Sea. Spatial mobility and competence to travel have clearly not only an age aspect, but also a gender aspect. POLINA and TANIA complained two or three times that they generally have to stay in or around the tent: "We too would like to drive around like the men". Istomin, a Komi anthropologist, (2000: 71) writes about Komi tent workers: "The 'world of woman' is very different from the world of men ... A woman cannot travel in a separate sledge (dad'), her place is in the line of sledges loaded with the equipment she takes care of." On 8 May 1999, POLINA travelled to her native village Khorei-Vor, about 40 kilometres away from the campsite, to pick up VITKO and ZHEN'Ko; she was accompanied by the two ANDREis and did not travel on her usual sledge, but on a herder's sledge that someone had lent to_ her. I was surprised to see how difficult it was for her to get control over the reindeer and that she drove in circles for quite a while. Now I can explain this fact by Istomin's observation, and I see POLINA's ride as an ex~eption that proves the rule. In short, the remit of the women is even more restricted than that of the apprentice herders. In the perception of the environment, there is a clear interconnectivity between place and time (season). The brigada people know the area north of the Karataika, towards the Kara Sea, only in its summer-like state. This landscape is experienced as mossy and green and with six oxen in front of one' s sledge. When the women talk about the Karataika valley, they associate it with the smell of flowers and herbs, and the multitude of 35 mosquitoes. Similarly, thoughts about the landscape along the River Kolva-Vis evoke connotations of slush, dangerous fords and newborn calves. On page 26, I mentioned that Konkovor is perceived as the "last forest" and marks the last stage of the time of sledge building. Moreover, the connectedness of time and place includes a third element: events, encounters, stories and biographies. The environment is a natural and social one at the same time. Again, Konkovor is a good example. A hamlet existed here some forty years ago, one of its inhabitants being a great-aunt ofVASILII and IVAN. She is buried in the tiny cemetery down in the valley that the brigade passes twice a year. Very close to this place, LESHA's grandfather, who was also a reindeer herder, died in an accident. POLINA's memories of Konkovor centre around the food and shelter she was given when she and her fellow-pupils made their two-day walk from her native village to the next boarding school, every year at the end of August. To give another example, arriving at Servis-Ty implies an encounter with BORODA (cf page 29). Saint Elias's Day and the spring and autumn corral constitute the highlights of the social year in the tundra. People recollect and exchange their own episodes and biographies, and those of others. At the corral, in a sense, the village and town come to visit the tundra. At the spring corral, there are always a number of pensioners, both women and men, who earlier worked in the tundra themselves; they use their occupational ties to spend a fortnight fishing 10• At the autumn corral, there are always a number of townsmen. Herders slaughter reindeer only for their own purposes, whereas the slaughtering of animals on behalf of the reindeer- herding enterprise is done by seasonal workers, many of whom come from the district centre or from further afield. Each brigade ought to have a radio and go on air every morning at 09:30 for the daily briefing by the enterprise's central base. The fact that brigada N° 9's radio is defunct slackens the managers' control over the activities of this brigade, but it does not mean that the tent mates live a life of complete isolation in the depths of the tundra. The "outside world", as I have shown above (page 21), is always present in the minds of the brigada members, and sometimes it is present physically, be it through the company of the anthropologist, the occasional visit of an oil worker or the encounters with "outsiders" at the corral. Harking back to the issues of spatial mobility and the "life-world", everybody brings in his or her own experiences and stories from the outside: Iv AN served as a soldier 10 The area around the corral is much more abundant in fish than the rivers and lakes closer to the village. 36 in Mongolia, V ASILII went as a child to the Black Sea for a holiday with his parents, the women have visited relatives in places that other members of the brigade do not know, and so forth. The life-world of each individual is thus bounded to several places that may significantly differ from everybody else's. There are, of course, places that are common to everybody by the very fact that they work as members of a reindeer-herding brigade: the tent, the places along the migration route, the corral and the village with the central base of the enterprise. In the next chapter, I shall shift my description to the second important centre of the reindeer people's life-world, the village. 37 Chapter 3 Small village, large village and town While the previous chapter illustrated the reindeer herders' and tent workers' life in the tundra, and the camp as the transportable base, this chapter exemplifies the other centre of their life-world, the village, as well as the other base of the reindeer-herding households, the house in the village. We shall first visit Novikbozh, a village of about 550 people on the banks of the River Pechora, and then Ust' -Usa, equally situated on the Pechora, but larger (1,400 inhabitants). The two villages are just five kilometres from each other and connected by a tarmac road - if you miss the bus, you can still walk. The reindeer herders and tent workers whom we have met in the previous chapter live in either Novikbozh and Ust' -Usa. The village of Ust'-Usa serves as a centre for Novikbozh in many respects: the office of the reindeer-herding enterprise, the high school and many other institutions are all located in Ust'-Usa. It used to be the centre of the whole district (raion) but lost this function owing to the rapid development of a new town nearby in the 1970s and 1980s. This town is Usinsk, the unofficial oil capital of the Komi Republic. In the third part of this chapter, I shall take the reader to Usinsk and show how the emergence of this industrial town with its own local identity has been influencing the identity of the surrounding villages and the image of the families living in those villages. Reindeer-herding families have to tackle the same problem as all other families in the villages of the Komi Republic: creating household income by applying as many and as diversified formal and informal strategies as possible. Having some family members who work in reindeer husbandry can be seen as an economic asset. By the same token, this asset causes specific difficulties, and in rriy opinion the question of transportation is the most pressing one. Managing two or three household "bases" requires mobility. Means of transportation, other -than reindeer and sledges, must be paid for. As the herders and tent workers are employed by a reindeer-herding enterprise, it is the enterprise that pays for transportation. As POLINA's example shows, the herders' families have various choices: they can either try to use reindeer-hauled sledge transport as often as possible (and stay close to the village in winter, cf page 32) or they may hope that the enterprise they work for will find enough financial means to send off helicopters to the camp. A single reindeer- herding family would never find the capital to pay for a helicopter flight. Transportation by helicopter has become an unpredictable resource. The executive members of the former 38 I II II I 1 I state farm, who often are relatives of the herding families, try to control this resource as much as possible, yet frequently without success. Herding families can exchange meat for other products. They also have the opportunity of fishing in the tundra, even if they spend much less time on fishing than their neighbours who live permanently in the village. Employment figures for the state farm's milk-production sector have gone down and people were forced to find work in other spheres, notably in privately run shops, or in town. Everybody in the countryside has seen a steep decline in livelihood and standard of living over the last decade; however, the non- herding families are more affected by this development than the herding families. The economic situation of reindeer-herding and other families will be discussed in general terms in chapter 7. Below, in section 3 .1, I shall draw a picture of everyday life in the village, and the everyday life of a reindeer-herding family. 3.1 Novikbozh Very few people in the Russian Federation have ever heard of Ust'-Usa and Novikbozh, yet nearly everybody has heard of the Russian pop-star Valerii Leont'ev. Leont'ev was born in 1949 in U st' -U sa. The local grapevine has it that he was actually born not in the village itself but on the road between Ust' -Usa and Novikbozh. I have travelled on this road numerous times, and frequently by school bus. This is what I am doing just now. While the bus passes the ruins of the abandoned building site of the state farm's cowshed halfway between the two villages, I talk to IRINA about Leont'ev's music. IRINA says that she likes it whereas her father VASILII definitely does not. Leont'ev's father worked as a reindeer veterinarian for a state farm further downstream, but the parents moved to U st' - Usa in the mid-1950s. The fact that Valerii Leont'ev has left these parts and lives now a rakish life in both St Petersburg, Russia, and Miami, Florida, explains why IRINA envies him and why VASILII says that Leont'ev has forsaken and forgotten his fellow-villagers. Apart from IRINA, my other friend in the school bus i~ MISHKO, ZHENIA' s brother. I am staying with their family. Shortly after reaching Novikbozh, the bus stops and we get out. With MISHKO I walk to "our" house (figure 12). The head of the household is already awaiting us: YELENA Borisovna, 45 years old, a widow with three daughters and three sons. YELENA's father was Russian, her mother is Komi. Her mother lives in the house next door and Yelena and her daughters look after her. YELENA does not "travel" (ne 39 11 11 I yezdit) any more, which means that she does not work as a tent-worker as she used to do when her husband Aleksei was still alive. Aleksei was the brother of V ASILII and Iv AN: they all belong to the Khatanzeiskii family. They trace their ancestry back to their grandfather Terentii (referred to as Ter' Starik) and nothing is known about earlier generations, · except that Ter' Starik was of Nenets provenance. While the knowledge of genealogies is not very deep historically, people in Novikbozh do have an extensive knowledge about the ties between the families in the village over the last two or three generations. These ties are important in a community where a large part of the local economy depends on informal social networks, mutual help and exchange. YELENA and her family also depend on these ties. I have asked myself what YELENA's main concerns might be. Like most parents in Russia and elsewhere, she tries to make ends meet, she looks after her children, cares about their education, helps them to find jobs and she also actively maintains links and co-operation with related (and non- related) families in the village. ZHENIA (22), her oldest son, works as a reindeer herder and is the main source of the family's income. He contributes reindeer meat and the wages that he receives from the sovkhoz (if he receives them). YELENA herself sews fur boots and is paid a widow's pension. She helps her neighbours make hay in the summer and gets milk and sometimes a piece of beef in return. ANIA (21) used to work as a shop assistant but soon she is going to marry a Russian from Ukhta, a city some 200 kilometres further south, and the couple is considering moving there. KATIA (16) also used to work in one of the Figure 12. The house of the Khatanzeiskii family in Novikbozh. (25 February 1999) 40 j , I ~ I I ': yezdit) any more, which means that she does not work as a tent-worker as she used to do when her husband Aleksei was still alive. Aleksei was the brother of V ASILII and Iv AN: they all belong to the Khatanzeiskii family. They trace their ancestry back to their grandfather Terentii (referred to as Ter' Starik) and nothing is known about earlier generations, · except that Ter' Starik was of Nenets provenance. While the knowledge of genealogies is not very deep historically, people in Novikbozh do have an extensive knowledge about the ties between the families in the village over the last two or three generations. These ties are important in a community where a large part of the local economy depends on informal social networks, mutual help and exchange. YELENA and her family also depend on these ties. I have asked myself what YELENA's main concerns might be. Like most parents in Russia and elsewhere, she tries to make ends meet, she looks after her children, cares about their education, helps them to find jobs and she also actively maintains links and co-operation with related (and non- related) families in the village. ZHENIA (22), her oldest son, works as a reindeer herder and is the main source of the family ' s income. He contributes reindeer meat and the wages that he receives from the sovkhoz (if he receives them). YELENA herself sews fur boots and is paid a widow's pension. She helps her neighbours make hay in the summer and gets milk and sometimes a piece of beef in return. ANIA (21) used to work as a shop assistant but soon she is going to marry a Russian from Ukhta, a city some 200 kilometres further south, and the couple is considering moving there. KA TIA ( 16) also used to work in one of the Figure 12. The house of the Khatanzeiskii family in Novikbozh. (25 February 1999) 40 four small village shops until it shut down. ROZA (17) has recently finished school and would like to study philology in Syktyvkar, the capital of the Komi Republic, but the family would have difficulties supporting her financially. The two youngest sons, V AN'KO (14) and MISHKO (12) go to school in Ust'-Usa, as do all the Novikbozh children who have passed the primary school of Novikbozh. VAN'Ko hates school and tries to escape whenever possible. He hangs out in the forest. In the summer holidays and in winter he spends much of his time with his brother ZHENIA in the herders' tent. MISHKO hates school too, but attends it more regularly than VAN'Ko. My presence caused a rearrangement of the sleeping facilities among the family members, who anyway do not enjoy ample floor space. The three daughters slept in the house of their grandmother, YELENA shared her sleeping room with MISHKO (and VAN'Ko, when he was around). While ZHENIA lived in the house, he stayed in the living room. I slept on a sofa bed in a small room between the kitchen and the living room. There are no doors separating the four rooms from each other. Instead, three rooms open into a space dominated by the big brick-laid stove (with a cat residing on top of it). A curtain maintains the privacy of the sleeping room, which is furthest away from the stove. The kitchen is the largest room and comprises not only the kitchen proper but also the comer where people have their meals, the washstand and the wardrobe close to the door that leads to the porch. Some of the food is stored in the porch, whereas the work equipment (including the reindeer-herding gear) is piled up in a wide corridor that connects the porch with the toilet at the back of the house. Next to it is a large room that apparently used to be a shed for cattle but serves now as additional storage room. The two houses share a bania (bathhouse) and a shed for firewood. MISHKO and I get up at the same time, urged by YELENA' s persistent shouts. After the morning ablutions and a hasty breakfast, we catch the school bus to Ust'-Usa. Usually I do my interviews, visits and shopping in Ust'-Usa in the morning; the afternoon I spend with visits to families in Novikbozh. Sometimes I return "home" from such visits after one hour, to the slight amazement of YELENA. Being on a visit usually takes a longer time and in most cases, the guest is urged to stay and "drink tea". We have seen in the previous chapter that "tea" is not just tea. When a guest pops around, "tea" involves all the kinds of food that the hosts can bring up: frozen and salted fish, sometimes meat, always bread and potatoes or noodles, preserved mushrooms and berries, sweets and such like. More often than not, the head of the household comes out with a bottle of vodka, and it would be utterly impolite to leave the house before the third toast. 41 r. Again, I tried to make myself useful, although many of the daily tasks were done by the other family members in a routine and consequently better manner. At times, though, my help was really appreciated, most notably when I offered to accompany YELENA and some others to the river island close to the village in order to make hay. This business lasts several days. While we had a break, YELENA'~ neighbour explained what kind of work people need to do at what time of the year. To give just a few examples, the hay that is cut in July is left in haystacks until November, when the river is frozen and the hay can be transported to the village by snowmobile. Potatoes are planted in June, in late July the earth around the plants must be piled up, and the harvest happens in mid-September, when the nights get frosty. The procuring of staple food for the long winter is so important that officials and white-collar workers also take leave from work. Similarly, in August the whole village is busy with picking berries and mushrooms in whatever place they can travel to. Those families who are not engaged in reindeer husbandry earn a considerable amount of their subsistence by fishing, and the men are on the rivers or lakes many days throughout most of the year. To be a fisherman is no longer an occupation (as it used to be in Soviet times), yet most families in Novikbozh have a boat at the shore of the river and an outboard motor at home. Novikbozh looks like hundreds of other villages of the same size in this part of Russia (figure 13). The Western visitor may feel pleased by the absence of the concrete blocks of flats that are so ubiquitous in larger villages. All houses in Novikbozh are wooden buildings; there is neither running water nor district heating. What looks quaint and cosy to the Western observer is considered uncomfortable and "backward" by local people: they have to fetch water from a nearby brook and firewood from the forest. With its approximately 500 inhabitants, Novikbozh is classified as a "small village" (derevnia), whereas Ust'-Usa, which is three times as large, figures as a "large village" (selo). Imagine you arrive by boat in Novikbozh: either you climb the steep bank by one of the little paths; or you take the easier, albeit longer, way cµid walk up the ramp to the village road. The slope is open land, building a house here would be foolish, because the next spring floods will surely destroy it. One row of houses occupies the upper edge of the bank; behind them is the main road of the village. Tum left, and after some hundred metres the road fans out, its branches turning into footpaths at the fringe of the village. Tum right, and the road will lead you to what could be called the centre of the village, and ultimately to Ust' -Usa. The actual centre of Novikbozh is the village hall - literally: the "House of 42 II 111 I I Culture" (Dom kul'tury, Kul'tura kerka) - at the end of a little street that comes up from the main road. There are no paved roads other than the main road and this side street. The buses that call at Novikbozh tum here, their passengers embarking and disembarking. The House of Culture, the bus shelter and the two shops make up the focal point of the village's "public" sphere from early morning until late evening. The other public buildings you can count on the fingers of one hand: the post office, the elementary school and another shop. Apart from the House of Culture, the largest and most impressive building in Novikbozh is the old cowshed of the former state farm. It is situated in the back lane of the village, which connects YELENA's house with that of VASILII and TANIA's family. Frequently I walked from one house to the other, from one branch of the Khatanzeiskii kin to the other, from the people of brigada N° 10 to those of brigada N° 9. I need not describe the members of VASILII and TANIA's family, because the reader has got to know most of them in chapter 2. Judging from their house and its interior, they are slightly better off than YELENA's family and more affluent than the average family in Novikbozh (the other people who work in the two brigades also live in Novikbozh, with the exception of Iv AN and POLINA, who have a flat in Ust' -Usa.). But then, even their standard of living seems modest if compared with the house a few steps further, at the edge of the village. This is the home of Vasilii Ivanovich Khoziainov (49) and his family. They built it two or three years ago and it still looks brand new. Everything seems more generous and ample here. The reindeer herders and their family members often use his nickname OSH VAS' ("Vasilii the Bear") when they talk about him, although nobody Figure 13. The village of Novikbozh. The photograph was taken from the northern edge of the. village, with the River Pechora in the background to the left (25 February 1999) 43 would dare to address him as such11 • And they do talk about him quite frequently, since OsH VAS' works in the former state farm as chief executive for reindeer husbandry (upravliaiushchii po olenevodstvu) and in the hierarchy of the enterprise, he comes de facto second after the director. If things in the reindeer-herding brigades go wrong, then the brigadiers have to answer to him in the first place. Soon we are going to visit him at his office in Ust' -Usa. 3.2 Ust'-Usa Ust' -Usa is not only larger than Novikbozh, its appearance has also a markedly different character and it hosts more public buildings. The explanation behind that is the village's function as a district centre from 1932 to 1959. In those days, Ust'-Usa served as an administrative and transportation hub for the wider area. The old village that nestles on the riverbank where the Usa flows into the Pechora witnessed the emergence of a new village, the square building blocks of which occupy a large area on the terrace above12• Most of the new buildings were standardised types of wooden houses with two floors. Nowadays, many of them look miserable: when the administrative status of Ust'-Usa was downgraded, the village's period of prosperity came to an end. However, it retained the function of a community council (sel'sovet), encompassing Novikbozh and two other villages 13 • Therefore, the array of public services is still comparatively large: the main street is lined by a hospital, the council building and kindergarten, a diversity of shops, the secondary school, the post office etc. At the end of the main street, where the new village meets the old one, is the church. In Soviet times, it served as the "House of Culture" of the erstwhile district, then it became defunct and was recently refurbished with the financial support of an oil company (figure 14 shows the old village and the church). In the 1980s, one of the square blocks in the village centre was built up with two concrete buildings that, on three floors each, provide living space for about fifty households. A number of reindeer-herding families live in these grey houses that are locally known as ','well-built" (blagoustroennye) because they have running water and central heating (figure 15). II I shall use his nickname in my account to avoid confusion with V ASILII the brigadier. 12 See Belitzer (1958: 161) for a map ofUst'-Usa in the mid-1950s. 13 These two villages are Aids', where LESHA comes from, and Ust' -Lyzha, the home ofLYZHASA ANDREI (his nick-name means "Andrei from Lyzha"). 44 Figure 14. The village of Ust'-Usa. The photograph was taken from the frozen River Pechora and shows the old part of the village. The building in the centre is the church. (1 November 1998) Among the inhabitants of the "well-built" houses are IVAN, POLINA and TER' MISH ANDREI Khatanzeiskii. IVAN is POLINA's second husband. Earlier, she was married to Mikhail, another member of the Khatanzeiskii family and had three children with him (ANDREI, VITKO and a third son). Until his death soon after 1990, Mikhail was the head of brigada N° 9 and POLINA enjoyed the status of being the senior tent-worker. In accordance with the age of the Khatanzeiskii brothers, the leadership within the brigade then passed on to V ASILII and TANIA. The youngest unmarried Khatanzeiskii brother Iv AN and POLINA became a couple and she stayed in the brigade, but from now on she was no longer tent- worker number one, which explains some of the hidden tensions between POLINA and TANIA. Living under one and the same canvas in the tundra, the two families do not see each other often when they are in the village. As we have s~en, each Komi reindeer-herding family compnses two household "bases": one in the tundra and one in the village. Consequently, a significant part of life is spent by shuffling around loads of flasks, bags and boxes with the family's labels attached to them14• Yet POLINA's case is even more complex. She grew up in Khorei-Vor, a place located beyond the borders of the Komi Republic (in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug) and without direct connection to Ust'-Usa. Her two younger sons attend school there and live 14 I found a great interest in these labels (birka, @): usually they consist of three letters that stand for the family name, the given name and the patronymic. The same letters occur on some of the herders' personal belongings, such as axes . On the luggage labels, the letters are often accompanied by the number of the brigade, indicated by the abbreviation ST, which stands for stado (herd). 45 Figure 15. The state farm's office (kontora). The office of the reindeer-herding en- terprise "Ust' -Usinskii" is situated on the top floor of the building in the centre. The red-brick section underneath marks a leisure centre. The entire block consists of such standardised houses with central heating and running water. (Ust'-Usa, 28 November 1998) with her sister's family. When she wants to see her sons, POLINA has the choice of hitchhiking for two days along indifferent roads and tracks, or sitting and waiting in the district centre, Usinsk, to catch the occasional helicopter that takes her to her native place. The third option has been described in the previous chapter (page 35): in spring, POLINA can make use of the brigade's location near Khorei-Vor and travel there by reindeer sledge. When planning the family's economic affairs, POLINA has to think about three household "bases", each providing specific needs and resources in time (seasons) and space (distance) as well as in social terms (members, relatives and neighbours). To return to Ust' -Usa and the "well-built" houses, one of them hosts the local leisure centre, a small library and the office (kontora) of the reindeer-herding enterprise (see figure 15). The plat~ on the door says: "Milk-producing and reindeer-herding state farm U st' -U sinskii" (Molochno-olenevodcheskii sovkhoz U st '-U sinskii) 15 • Since January 2000, the state farm has the official status of a "municipal unitary enterprise" (munitsipal 'noe unitarnoe predpriiatie), but most people in the villages keep saying "state farm" (sovkhoz). And despite the fact that a few financial and management procedures may have changed, 15 With the aim of securing some form of income throughout the year, both the state and collective farms were to combine reindeer husbandry with other agricultural activities. From approximately 1960 to 1995, all reindeer-herding enterprises in the Komi Republic engaged in additional activities such as cattle farming and milk production, or fishing and hunting. Hence the reason "Ust'-Usinskii" is still shown as a "milk-producing and reindeer-herding state farm" according to the plate at its office. 46 1 1 I the old sovkhoz ambience is still very much alive. After you have passed the two sets of slamming doors that are so ubiquitous in the cold northern regions of Russia, you walk upstairs and find yourself in a dismal corridor and in company with one or two slightly intimidated persons waiting for their audience. There is a cashier's window in the corridor, but it is never open. Employees who want to receive their salary make sure they see the white-collar worker whom they know best or who has the highest rank, or both. For approximately five years the state farm could not pay wages in cash: the wages were written down in booklets and balanced with the expenses that the state farm paid on behalf of the employee (such as food supplies for the herders in the tundra). As an exception to the rule of a barter economy, the lucky employee would finagle a so-called "advance" (avans) paid out in cash. In fact, such payments covered tiny bits of the longstanding arrears of the employees' salaries. At least this has changed when the state farm was transformed into a municipal enterprise: now wages are transferred to the bank accounts of employees. At certain times of the day the corridor resounds with loud shouts that emanate from the radio room. This room is officially the realm of the dispatcher (dispecher), but during the radio sessions it is packed with white-collar workers as well as relatives of those who work in the tundra. Unfortunately, not all the reindeer-herding brigades have a radio: the one belonging to brigada N° 9 is broken, and the one belonging to brigada N° 10 should be replaced soon, but there is no money for that. It was in this room that I first met OsH VAS' - when he was having a debate with a number of workers. Many issues had been raised and one employee (a technician) spoke about civil disobedience and strikes. Another employee complained about the lack of support from the government. OsH VAS' said that in the Urals there are herders who work entirely on a private base, they do not get any support and still make a reasonable living. Further he said: this shows how important it is that everybody continues working at their place ("kazhdyi na svoem meste"); all the talk about strikes is just nonsense. The discussion went on for a while, until the smokers among the workers had made their way to the staircase - the usual place where , the men have their informal talks. I remained with OsH VAS' in the radio room and he complained that he often feels as if he worked in a "madhouse" (durdom). Later I asked him about the possibility of travelling by helicopter to the state farm's corral - Kolva-Ty - as I had heard that there would be a helicopter within the next few days. OsH VAS' accepted without any hesitation and told me to get ready: the flight would be the next morning. Without really knowing 47 me, OSH VAS' and many other state farm workers were willing to help me from the very first moment. State farm executives can be quite uninterested when strangers turn up and want to know all the enterprise's latest production figures, but they may become keen when the stranger declares a desire to live in a camp. The executive staff of the kontora comprises the director, the deputy director who is at the same time the chief economist (glavnyi ekonomist), the chief accountant (glavnyi bukhgalter) and her subordinates, the chief engineer (glavnyi inzhener), the chief zoo- technician (glavnyi zootekhnik), the chief executive for cattle rearing (upravliaiushchii po zhivotnovodstvu), the chief executive for reindeer husbandry (upravliaiushchii po olene- vodstvu), the zoo-technician for reindeer husbandry (zootekhnik po olenevodstvu) and others. The enterprise used to employ a veterinarian, but this function has been outsourced since April 1998 and is now fulfilled by the district veterinarian whenever necessary. The former state farm (municipal enterprise) does not pursue any land cultivation; it engages in animal farming exclusively. As the plate on the front door indicates, "Ust'- Usinskii" operates in two fields: milk production and reindeer husbandry. In the previous chapter I consistently described "Ust'-Usinskii" as a "reindeer-herding enterprise". This simplification can now be revised: in late 1998, 130 people were employed in the three milk farms and about 80 worked in reindeer husbandry. More than 30 people worked in the office (kontora) and on the state farm's central site; this group includes both white-collar workers and technicians. Yet my description of "Ust'-Usinskii" as a "reindeer-herding enterprise" serves also to emphasise that reindeer husbandry is - in economic terms - the enterprise's most important activity. Reindeer husbandry is the big plus in the state farm's accounts, while milk farming is the big minus. For the same reason, I consider OSH VAS' de facto as the second most important official of the enterprise, although on paper he is not. The state farm's milk farming has seen a serious decline over the last ten years: many workers were dismissed, some cowsheds were closed, and the new shed halfway between the two villages has never been completed (see the first paragraph of this section). However, people in Ust'-Usa and Novikbozh have their private cattle. The island meadows where YELENA and her neighbours make hay are actually state-farm territory, but owing to the enterprise's decreasing demand for hay, the director has "opened" the island for private use. Making hay is still collective work and organised in teams (again, the word brigada is used), but the hay is shared by the workers and no longer taken by the former state farm. Like other former state farms or collective farms, the accountancy department is a stronghold of female officials, whereas positions such as the director and the zoo- 48 technicians are dominated by males. Most of the staff of this enterprise are Komi and grew up in Ust'-Usa or Novikbozh and many of them (for example the director, the deputy director and OsH VAS') are the brothers, sisters or children of reindeer herders and tent workers. However, there are also a few Russian workers in the kontora. I have made friends with one "incomer" family that has close ties to the former state farm and will introduce these people because they - together with OsH VAS' - play a pivotal role in the meat and antler marketing (see pp. 110 and 114). Boris Vladimirovich SHARIKOV (49), the Russian zoo-technician of "Ust'-Usinskii", grew up in the southern Urals and had worked in the reindeer business in other northern regions of Russia before he came here. He now lives with his family in Usinsk, the district centre, and commutes to work by car (160 kilometres for a round trip). His nephew OLEG Anatol' evich Pechenkin (33) worked for several years as reindeer veterinarian for the state farm, but in connection with the outsourcing of his function, he has recently been promoted to the position of chief veterinarian for the entire district. The flat of the Pechenkin family is located in the blagoustroennyi dom in Ust'-Usa, but the young couple wants to move with their two children to Usinsk. OLEG's wife SVETLANA Vasil'evna (26) follows the same profession: as the village veterinarian, she looks after (non-reindeer) animals in Ust'-Usa and Novikbozh. She is hoping to get a similar job in her husband's office, the veterinary station in Usinsk. The first time that I met OLEG was - as so many meetings - a helicopter episode. OLEG had been sitting in faraway Servis-Ty, waiting a whole month to be taken home to U st' -U sa. When he was finally picked up, the helicopter he travelled in had a stop-over at the corral Kolva-Ty, where I had spent a day with OSH VAS', SHARIKOV and others. As the helicopter had landed in Ust' -Usa, I helped unloading numerous bags and boxes. OLEG had not really noticed me during the flight, but now he was wondering about this unknown person being "involved" in state farm work. Two days later, SHARIKOV invited me to OLEG and SVETLANA'S flat. After dinner, we watched the video that OLEG had filmed at Servis- Ty. SVETLANA has also frequently been to the tundra, and ~he enjoys it. While we were watching the video, she said: "You know, Otto, perhaps it is different in your country, but here the everyday life is often very tiring. Sometimes I want to [leave it all behind and] go into the tundra, where there is no such trouble." Similarly, OLEG told me one day: "I am moving into town for my career and in order to give my family a better life, but actually, I hate office work. I would love to keep working in the tundra [but it will be difficult] . 49 , · I ' Ii I I Before the herders and I were some sort of colleagues, but now I am in a senior position and as a 'boss' I will become unpopular." When OLEG first showed me all his tundra equipment, he mentioned, in a proud voice, that the reindeer herders sometimes call him a yaran. From my own conversations with Komi reindeer herders I know that the word yaran is used as the opposite of yando ("greenhorn"). Yaran is an attribute of an experienced, skilful reindeer herder (see discussion in chapter 7). For OLEG, the importance of his nickname derives from his feeling that the herdsmen accept and respect him. My entree and adoption into the Khatanzeiskii families and the two brigades described in chapter 2 was facilitated and endorsed by an enigmatic first encounter with YELENA (who claimed she had read about me in a newspaper, long before I had ever thought of working in this region), the help and recommendations of OsH VAS' and SHARIKOV, and some long talks with OLEG. There must have been a lot of communication going on behind the scenes. One night OLEG told me that if I wanted to migrate with the brigades of "Ust'-Usinskii", I should stay in this community, help the state farm workers during the slaughter and get to know the reindeer herders. "YELENA is a very good-hearted women, you should visit her more often." (OLEG and SVETLANA had just returned from a visit to YELENA). Some days later it was decided that I would leave the flat that I had hired in the blagoustroennyi dom in Ust'-Usa and live with YELENA's family in Novikbozh. Such episodes made me realise how much my presence had already become enmeshed in the informal network of the community, and that in the future I myself would move along the lines of these social ties. SVETLANA and OLEG arrived in this region in 1992 and lived for a number of years in Novikbozh. Her daughter attended the elementary school in the village, where the Komi language prevails over Russian in everyday conversation as well as among the pupils in the school-yard. Little wonder that she started to use Komi phrases in the local vernacular not only at school, but also at home. This changed when the family moved to Ust'-Usa, where ethnic Russians make up a quarter of all inhabitants. In th~ streets of Ust'-Usa, one can hear both the Komi and Russian languages. At school in Ust' -Usa, the language of instruction is Russian, whilst Komi is taught alongside other subjects. However, the Komi dialect that the pupils learn at this school differs from the Komi dialect that they pick up at home or in the streets. SVETLANA's and OLEG's neighbours and good friends, a Komi family of local provenance, told me that they and other parents set up a study group for literary Komi language - otherwise they would not be able to help their children with the 50 11 homework. Before I had got to know IRINA, she approached me one day after school at the bus stop and asked me, the foreigner, whether I spoke Komi. I tried some phrases that I had learnt in my Komi textbook. She smiled and scoffed at me: "You don't speak Komi, you speak Zyrian", the latter being the term that local people use for the literary language, which derives from the southern part of Komi. In chapter 4, I shall return to the issues of language, ethnic and regional identity in Ust' -Usa and the wider area, and the salience of such issues to the image of Komi reindeer herding. Here I shall say some words about the school, its function within the community and its role in crafting the image of reindeer herding among local inhabitants. The school building of Ust' -Usa, a showpiece of austere Soviet architecture of the early 1980s, is situated just opposite the office of the former state farm. On entering the school, a large wall painting leaps into one's eye: it is an allegory of happy herders' life in the sunny tundra, where humans and animals live in friendship (figure 16). The painting helps to promote the prestige of reindeer husbandry among the pupils, the teachers and visitors to the school. So does the small local museum on the second floor of the school. Metal badges (rubezh) used as ornaments on the herder's belt (tasma) and other specimens of herders' craftsmanship are exhibited behind glass. The collection in the museum includes one photographic portrait of a reindeer herder, who happens to be the late Mitro fan Terent' evich Khatanzeiskii, the father of V ASILII, Mikhail, Aleksei and Iv AN. But neither the portrait of his grandfather nor the painting in the vestibule can Figure 16. Painting in the foyer of the Ust'-Usa school building. (February 1999) 51 1, I ,I mitigate VAN'Ko's dislike for the school. For VAN'Ko, the lessons are just utterly boring. He finds it difficult to sit still, to listen and respond to the instructions of the teacher. He would rather gaze out of the window and observe what is going on outside. His actual sphere of learning seems to be in the tundra and forest, and his main mode of learning, the experimental acquisition of manual and mental .skills. According to the teachers, children of reindeer-herding families perform worse at school than the average (cf section 7.5.4). Some young herdsmen, for example ONDRIUK, LESHA and SASHA, have considerable difficulties with reading and writing. In fact, SASHA is illiterate. My interpretation is that they challenge, or even undermine, the values that are central to school: education (obrazovanie), civilisation (tsivilizatsiia) and culture (kul'tura). Tsivilizatsiia and kul 'tura have some specific notions in the Russian context, and had them in Soviet times, too. The presence of "well-built" houses, a water tower and such-like make Ust'-Usa a more "cultured" place than Novikbozh in the first sense. The fact that in Ust'-Usa people regularly clap their hands after the performance of an artist in the "House of Culture", whereas in Novikbozh they are not used to doing so, may be seen as an indicator of different levels of "culturedness" in the second sense. On the far end of the scale of "culturedness" is the reindeer herders' camp, a place that lacks even the most elementary cultural "achievements" such as a bania. Tsivilizatsiia is often used in a similar sense as kul 'tura. To express it in a somewhat provocative manner, tsivilizatsiia ends there where the roads run out of tarmac. Like some other institutions (such as the "House of Culture"), school is the main dispensary of culture in the second sense, not only for children but also for adults, as is illustrated in what follows. The sixtieth anniversary of Ust'-Usa's secondary school was celebrated with a large official function. The director and several senior teachers were awarded congratulations and certificates, the younger teachers presented a theatre sketch in the Komi language, the pupils recited poems and the school bus driver and his girlfriend performed Russian pop songs. The evening continued with a banquet and dancing (see figure 17). All this took place in the presence of the local media. I was amazed by the atmosphere of this event. It was not so much that the people (many of whom I had known before) had changed, but rather my perception of them. With hindsight, I think that in my desire to examine everyday activities and social networks, I had underestimated the desire of my interviewees for official and "cultural" self-representation. I felt underdressed. To the best of my knowledge, reindeer herders were absent. They are not part of the local intellectual elite in Ust'-Usa. 52 j I 1 ·------ - -------------:~ Figure 17. Sixtieth aniversary of the Ust'-Usa school. Teachers and invited guests are dancing in the main hall of the school (6 November 1998) Examining the social status of reindeer-herding families, my impression is that they do not stand out of the village community of N ovikbozh, whereas in U st' -U sa, their status is slightly different. Kinship ties incorporate the reindeer-herding families into the close- knit social fabric of Novikbozh. In contrast, some of the reindeer-herding families that live in the "well-built" houses in Ust' -Usa are blamed by their non-herding neighbours for their drinking bouts and the boisterous behaviour of their children - both clearly signs of "unculturedness". 3.3 Travelling to town: Usinsk Considering the difficulties with transportation, at least the connection with Usinsk, the district centre, has improved. Ten or twelve years ago, a road was built from Ust'-Usa and Novikbozh to Usinsk -and there are regular bus services, which are free for pensioners. The latter constitute the majority of the passengers. Shopping in town is cheaper than in the village, particularly if you need not pay for the bus; so this is how pensioners can help their children's families. The bus collects passengers in front of the school and kontora in Ust'- Usa, then stops at the "House of Culture" in Novikbozh and from there travels along the highway. Half an hour later, the bus reaches the main road that traverses the area of oil production to both sides of the River Kolva. Every time I travel here, I am fascinated by the size and appearance of the technical structures (page 83), the most impressive of them being "Golovnye sooruzheniia", a complex for collecting and forwarding oil. You can see 53 II I its flares of excess gas from far away. Amidst a tangle of pipelines, large round white oil tanks show advertisements for the president and his party. From "Golovnye sooruzheniia", a side road leads deep into the forest tundra, to the place where brigada N° 9 had their winter camp in 1999 (page 21). The reindeer herders and state farm drivers may use this road only after having obtained a permit from an office hidden behind the oil tanks. It was on this occasion that TRET' IAKOV, one of the drivers of "U st' -U sinskii", made his edgy remark: "You see? Our land, and yet we have to ask for permission" (cf page 95). Having said that, he had to acknowledge, though, that the road was constructed and maintained by the oil companies, as is the case with most roads in the region. Today, we are travelling not to any reindeer herders' camp but to town. After another half an hour along the trunk pipeline, the road makes a tum into Usinsk. Having passed the railway station and the industrial zone, the bus arrives at the main market, where most people get out to do their shopping. In the late afternoon the bus will collect the village people at the same bus stop. This is basically the only time and place where you know you will meet people talking in the Komi language in the public sphere of Usinsk. Few inhabitants of U sinsk itself are of Komi nationality; most of them are Russians, Ukrainians and Tatars. Around the comer, a nine-floor apartment block has an inscription on top: "More oil from Usinsk for the homeland! (Bo! 'she Usinskoi nefti rodine!)". Usinsk owes its existence to the oil industry. The town's population rises and falls depending on the price of crude oil on the international markets. Late 1998 to early 1999 was a critical period and some inhabitants anticipated that "soon the lights will be turned off in Usinsk", as one of OLEG' s colleagues expressed it during one of my visits to the veterinary station. But since the time when one of the biggest companies in the Russian oil business - Lukoil - took over the regional companies and resumed large-scale investments, U sinsk has been attracting more people again. Some 50,000 people live in Usinsk and some 3,000 in a suburb called Parma, where the oil-producing town was initially going to be built. Geologists arrived here in 1962 in order to explore the region for oil. They pitched their tents, at a Komi hamlet on the banks of the River Usa. Just five kilometres away is the village of Kolva, one of the most significant historical sites in the whole region (cf appendix 3). The new oil workers' settlement got the name Usinsk in 1966 but local building activities stopped three years later when it was decided that the Usa valley would be flooded as a result of the construction of a hydrological power plant. The town would have to be erected further 54 its flares of excess gas from far away. Amidst a tangle of pipelines, large round white oil tanks show advertisements for the president and his party. From "Golovnye sooruzheniia", a side road leads deep into the forest tundra, to the place where brigada N° 9 had their winter camp in 1999 (page 21 ). The reindeer herders and state farm drivers may use this road only after having obtained a permit from an office hidden behind the oil tanks. It was on this occasion that TRET'IAKOV, one of the drivers of "Ust'-Usinskii", made his edgy remark: "You see? Our land, and yet we have to ask for permission" ( cf page 95). Having said that, he had to acknowledge, though, that the road was constructed and maintained by the oil companies, as is the case with most roads in the region. Today, we are travelling not to any reindeer herders' camp but to town. After another half an hour along the trunk pipeline, the road makes a turn into Usinsk. Having passed the railway station and the industrial zone, the bus arrives at the main market, where most people get out to do their shopping. In the late afternoon the bus will collect the village people at the same bus stop. This is basically the only time and place where you know you will meet people talking in the Komi language in the public sphere of Usinsk. Few inhabitants of U sinsk itself are of Komi nationality; most of them are Russians, Ukrainians and Tatars. Around the comer, a nine-floor apartment block has an inscription on top: "More oil from Usinsk for the homeland! (Bol'she Usinskoi nefti rodine!)". Usinsk owes its existence to the oil industry. The town's population rises and falls depending on the price of crude oil on the international markets. Late 1998 to early 1999 was a critical period and some inhabitants anticipated that "soon the lights will be turned off in Usinsk", as on~ of OLEG's colleagues expressed it during one of my visits to the veterinary station. But since the time when one of the biggest companies in the Russian oil business - Lukoil - took over the regional companies and resumed large-scale investments, Usinsk has been attracting more people again. Some 50,000 people live in Usinsk and some 3,000 in a suburb called Parma, where the oil-producing town was initially going to be built. Geologists arrived here in 1962 in order to explore the region for oil. They pitched their tents .at a Komi hamlet on the banks of the River Usa. Just five kilometres away is the village of Kolva, one of the most significant historical sites in the whole region (cf appendix 3). The new oil workers' settlement got the name U sinsk in 1966 but local building activities · stopped three years later when it was decided that the Usa valley would be flooded as a result of the construction of a hydrological power plant. The town would have to be erected further 54 away from the river. In fact, this is what happened, notwithstanding the fact that the dam and power plant were never built. Thus, the construction of the new town of Usinsk started in February 1970, ten kilometres away from the previous oil workers' settlement that later attained the name Parma. I would not dwell so long on the history of U sinsk, was it not for the fact that in some instances, 18 February 1970 is sometimes represented as "the beginning of history" (nachalo istorii, see figure 18, from the encyclopaedia Respublika Kami 2000). The event is depicted as the deed of a group of pioneers: "Oni byli pervymi" ("They were the first") runs the caption on a photograph showing the arrival of a cohort of settlers in a tank-like vehicle in what seems an uninhabited wilderness. ... ... - .. . YCHHCK, ropo,u; peen. aHa11eH1u1 B Peen. KoMH, n;eHTP o.n;HonM. MO <> (c 1999). Pacno- .JIO»ceH :s:a C. peen., Ha rrpaB. 6epery p. Yc1>1. :IB:.-.n;. cT. Ha11aJ10 HC'l'OPHM Ha JIHHRM CbIHH-YCHHCK. AsponopT, m.-,n;. noKaaJI. BoaHHK B 1966. CTaTyc ropo.n;a nonyqHJl 20 HIOJI.ff 1984. ~eHTP HecpTe,n;o6hIB. npoM-CTH Peen. KoMH. °CJHCJI. Hae. Ha 1.1.2000 - 4 7, 7 TbIC. "tJeJI. Figure 18. "The beginning of history". Arrival of settlers in newly founded Usinsk. Source: Respublika Kami: entsiklopediia (2000, vol. 3: 201). 55 1' This representation of history necessarily implies that the Nenets and Komi presence in this region is all about "prehistory". In this interpretation, people like VASILII and YELENA must have grown up in prehistoric times, for they can remember the construction of the new town on the winter pastures of one of the reindeer-herding brigades of "Ust' - U sinskii"16• A print of the same photograph is on display in the museum of U sinsk, whose exhibition focuses almost exclusively on the opening-up of oil fields (figure 19). The director of the museum told me that they have long wanted to diversify their displays but do not have the material yet to do so. No hard feelings, though, for at least they have compiled a collection of photographs showing village life and festivities from all places in the Usinsk District. For Usinsk and Ust'-Usa as well as other places in the former Soviet Union, museums had an important function: their exhibitions legitimised the existence of the place, of certain things and events. In other words, museums authorised the history and shaped the image of that place17• The museum ofUsinsk, which was officially organised by the local administration, has until recently promoted the pioneering role of the town in oil production. The small museum of Ust'-Usa, which was organised informally by one of the teachers, demonstrates the village's background and engagement in reindeer husbandry. Each of them mirrors and promotes a certain local identity. Notwithstanding the strong emphasis on oil production in the local identity of the town, most inhabitants of Usinsk do know that there are Komi villages and reindeer herders somewhere in their surroundings. Some of the oil workers have also seen reindeer and reindeer herders during their work in the tundra. And further, there are a small number of those whose work is directly connected with reindeer husbandry: people like OLEG and his colleagues from the veterinary station, who had gone many times to Servis-Ty for reindeer vaccinations; SHARIKOV, who is responsible for compiling the "reindeer statistics" twice a year; and the officials in the local Department for Agriculture, who receive these data and forward them to the capital of the Komi Republic, Syktyvkar (page 156). I want to add at this point that they all supported my research. ~or example, officials of the Department for Agriculture invited me to an excursion to a newly built reindeer slaughterhouse at Vozei (appendix 9), a place in what seems the middle of the oil- 16 Cf page 83 . Later, I shall argue that many urban inhabitants are likely to have the notion that reindeer herders belong to a past that by the "logic" of history and progress should no longer exist (pp. 163-164). 17 Cf Cruikshank and Argounova (2000). This was and is true for museums in so-called Western countries, too, but to a lesser extent, on the grounds of the more competitive, pluralistic interpretation of history and identity in these societies. Cf pp. 146-14 7. Figure 19. Exhibition in the museum of Usinsk. Items in the exhibition comprise paintings, medals, flags, geological specimens and a model of an oil derrick (5 November 1998) producing area of the Komi Republic, judging from the number of gas flares in the surrounding area. No doubt, the administration of Usinsk is aware of the concerns among inhabitants of the villages on its territory, and of the concerns of the reindeer-herding enterprises. However, the point that I wish to make here is that Usinsk has a different raison d'etre than N ovikbozh and U st' -U sa. Often I felt that U sinsk is a world unto itself, in the sense that oil production - as a key industry in the Russian North - overshadows all other aspects of life in this place' s environs. I shall return to the domain of oil production in chapter 5. But first, we shall examine what lies beyond Usinsk' s "beginning of history". Chapter 4 explores the history of this region with special focus on the development of Komi reindeer husbandry. Although Komi reindeer husbandry has been in existence for a much longer time than the oil industry, it can by no means be considered prehistoric. I shall show that the Komi started to engage in reindeer husbandry in comparatively recent times. 57 Chapter 4 The dynamics of Komi reindeer husbandry in space and time In order to understand the present and assess the future of Komi reindeer husbandry, it is essential to know its history. Likewise, it is necessary to look at Komi reindeer husbandry in its regional diversity in order to understand transportation issues, the delineation of pastures and other aspects bearing on spatial mobility. This chapter takes us beyond "Ust' - Usinskii" and the reindeer-herding brigades that we have met previously. We shall now explore Komi reindeer husbandry in its temporal and spatial entirety. In the course of this chapter I shall demonstrate that the role of the Komi in reindeer herding has been powerful, yet of recent origin. It is recent insofar as it goes back merely nine or ten generations. It has been powerful because from the 1930s to the 1990s, Komi reindeer-herding strategies and practices served as a blueprint for reindeer herding by other peoples of the Russian north. While Komi reindeer husbandry became the model for Soviet reindeer husbandry in general, it lost part of its significance within the bounds of the Komi territory itself. Although this thesis focuses on reindeer herding in the Komi Republic, it is impossible to restrict the historical and geographical analysis exclusively to the Komi: reindeer herding strategies and practices of the Komi and Nenets must be understood in their interconnectedness. They did not develop alongside each other: in fact, they influenced and reformed one another. That the analysis cannot be limited to the Komi alone becomes evident by a brief look at the map showing the delineation of pastures (figure 1 ). The pastures of the enterprises based in the Komi Republic are interspersed with those of enterprises based in other administrative regions. In fact, the whole stretch of land from the White Sea to the Urals, and beyond, constitutes a regional entity in many respects of reindeer husbandry. Culturally and historically, there are connections from this region both westward - Komi and Nenets engage in reindeer husbandry on the Kola Peninsula (Konakov 1993; Konstantinov 2000; cf Nobl Overland 1999) - and eastward - the settlement area of the Nenets extends to the Taimyr Peninsula (Golovnev and Osherenko 1999; Klokov 2000; Stammler 2002). Reindeer husbandry in the area between the White Sea and the Urals (in the Komi Republic and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug) has been examined repeatedly but, owing to the administrative borders, there has been a tendency over the last decades to overlook the regional integrity (for example, Association .. . 1999a and 1999b). This is exemplified by 58 the fact that regional statistics for the Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Komi Republic are collected separately. Nonetheless, by now there are some good examples for an integrated approach (notably, Istomin 1998 and 2000). While the delineation of the reindeer-herding region in the north and west simply follows the coastline 18, there is much uncertainty with regard to the current eastern and southern bounds. Independent herders (so-called chastniki) graze their animals on both sides of the Urals. Herders of the reindeer-herding enterprise in Vorkuta drive their animals far into Siberia. Other Komi enterprises, too, can claim vast winter pastures on the Siberian side, although they no longer use them. The winter pastures around the town of Pechora in the Komi Republic have also been abandoned. The expansion and reduction of the herding area reflects the long-term results of choices and decisions of herders, managers and administrators. Therefore, at the end of this chapter, we shall look at the reasons for the abandoning of the southern and eastern winter pastures. But first I shall describe the geographical and historical shape of reindeer herding in the region. 4.1 Geographical sketch The system of reindeer husbandry in the European north usually combines winter pasture in the taiga with summer pasture in the tundra 19• The whole business of reindeer husbandry and the life-world of the brigada people are based on this annual oscillation, which itself originates in the life conditions of the reindeer: the avoidance of insects in the summer by moving to cooler and windier places in the north (tundra), the avoidance of severe snowstorms in the winter by moving south (forest), and the general tendency to change grazing area when forage becomes scarce. Behind the general pattern of movement, numerous factors have a bearing on the herders' techniques and decisions in the actual process of herding. Usually, the camp is located a few kilometres in front of the herd. When the herd comes close to the camp, the 18 Reindeer herding is also pursued on two islands in the North Polar Sea: Kolguev and Vaigach. Kolguev has its own reindeer-herding kolkhoz "Kolguevskit'; whereas the pastures on Vaigach are used by the kolkhoz "Druzhba narodov" (Karataika). 19 A look into the atlas reveals that the natural conditions in the north-eastern part of European Russia roughly correspond to the zonal variation of ecosystems on the planet Earth: in the northern hemisphere, north means colder and south means warmer. Consequently, the biomass and the diversity of vegetation generally decrease from south to north. This also applies to the area in question: boreal forests (taiga) cover the largest part of the European northeast of Russia, followed by a transitional zone of forest tundra (roughly along the Polar Circle at 66°33' N and beyond) and the treeless tundra itself, most of which is situated beyond 68° N. 59 brigade moves to a new site. The actual frequency and speed of the brigade's migrations are determined by the given season, the weather and snow conditions, the condition of the animals, forage resources, certain key dates in the agenda of the reindeer-herding enterprise, as well as specific personal considerations, as we have seen in chapter 2. To say that the reindeer themselves know the way and .that they guide the brigade would generally be correct; however, the herders have some influence on the movement of the herd and can drive them in different directions or at different speeds. The territory that is allotted to the reindeer-herding enterprise confines the direction of the general movement. The whole tundra between the White Sea and the Urals, as well as the adjacent forest tundra and forest areas, are divided into a number of corridors, large ones and narrow ones, according to the head of deer that were owned by the enterprise at some time in the distant Soviet past. Figure 1 shows these territories. They stretch from the Polar seas to the River U sa or Pechora and further southward. The tundra region between the White Sea and the Urals is denominated as the Arkhangel'sk tundras (Arkhangel'skie tundry). These are subdivided into four parts: the Kanin Tundra, the Timan Tundra, the Malozemel' skaia ("small land") Tundra and the Bol'shezemel'skaia ("big land") Tundra. Although all four tundras are located in the North Russian Lowlands, they are characterised by different physical conditions and landscapes. The Bol'shezemel'skaia Tundra - the regional focus of this thesis - is of more diverse character, owing to its geological structure. Small mountain ranges and a tangled network of rivers result in localised conditions comparable to those in the forest or steppe climate zones. In his exemplary description of the development of large-scale reindeer herding, Istomin (1998: 8-19) has shown that this landscape diversity provides a favourable habitat for reindeer. The multitude of hills, hillocks and interspersed valleys offers heterogeneous forage resources20• Additionally, the Bol'shezemel'skaia Tundra is the largest of the four tundra areas compared here, and extends furthest northward. Climatic conditions are such that the reindeer can usually keep pace with the greening period of plants. This circumstance goes a great way to explaining the timing and movements of the Komi reindeer herds (Istomin, 2 ° Flat hilltops and the upper parts of ridges with underlying permafrost are windswept and covered by crusty snow throughout most of the year. Mosses and lichen dominate the vegetation on these flat elevated areas. Under the southern slopes, the permafrost table is comparatively deep, owing to more solar radiation. Grasses and taller plants occur mainly on such slopes and along the rivers. Reindeer feed on both lichen and fresh grasses and leaves, depending on the season of the year. 60 1998: 44-45), although we have seen earlier (page 22) that weather conditions do not give any guarantee for the well being of the herd and the success of the reindeer herders. According to the general pattern, the most suitable migration routes follow the ridges in a southwestern-northeastern direction and vice versa. The borders of the territories allotted to the different enterprises often coincide with larger rivers, which equally run from southwest to northeast, although frequently winding off a direct line. Zig-zag running rivers force the reindeer herds and herders to make many crossings and fords on their migrations (page 26). Winds are less harsh and the snow less crusty in the forest and forest tundra zones than in the tundra. Apart from the ground lichen covered by snow, arboreal lichen contributes to the diet of the reindeer. Therefore, the forest and forest tundra zones provide a preferable habitat in the winter. However, the herd instinct causes the deer to prefer sites where they can see each other, regardless of the time of the year. In this respect, open areas inside the forest or around forest islands are more suitable than the forest itself. Although swamps qualify as open areas, their vegetation is dominated by mosses (notably sphagnum) and lichen is scarce. The best sites are slightly elevated patches in the forest and forest tundra. Such areas also exist to the south of the River Pechora, for instance in the Kozhva Forests, where the "Ust'-Usinskii" brigades had their winter pastures until some forty years ago (section 4.5). The easternmost part of the region, the Ural mountain range with summits reaching to 1,900 metres above sea level, differs markedly from this general pattern. The higher the elevation, the harsher the natural conditions; and therefore the tree line bends sharply southward in the Urals and their foothills. The fells of the Urals are good summer pastures but Komi reindeer herders do not use them for this purpose (their eastern neighbours, the Khanty, do). Instead, Komi reindeer herders of Vorkuta migrate across the Urals to utilise winter pastures in the forests to both sides of the River Ob'. As stated above, other Komi enterprises, too, used to drive their reindeer across the Urals for winter grazing, mainly because by about 1880, the pastures on the European sid~ could no longer sustain the number of reindeer, which had been increasing quickly and fairly steadily throughout the 181h and 19th century. I shall discuss this rapid development of Komi reindeer husbandry in the following section. 61 4.2 The emergence of Komi reindeer husbandry Komi reindeer husbandry is a comparatively recent phenomenon. It was not before the mid-1 ?1h century that the Komi became involved in reindeer herding at all. Among their northern neighbours, the Nenets, small-scale reindeer herding for the purpose of transportation had existed since at least the 11 th century (Khomich 1995: 285). A basic statement by L. N. Zherebtsov (1982: 165) summarises the process of the emergence of large-scale reindeer herding among the Komi and Nenets: "Having borrowed from the Nenets reindeer herding and the pertinent implements of work and production, means of transportation and many elements of material culture, the Komi creatively converted them in conformity with the new circumstances". Behind this summary stands a very complex process that has been elucidated by scholars like Istomin (1998), Konakov and Kotov (1991), Krupnik (1993) and others. Here I shall merely highlight some basic aspects of this process (additional details can be found in appendix 2). Before the 16th century, the northeastem border of the Komi settlement area coincided with the watersheds between the Vychegda and Pechora rivers. The first incident of Komi settlers coming into the Pechora Basin was the foundation of Pustozersk (near present-day Nar'ian-Mar, in the delta of the Pechora) in 1499. Within a century, two more small-towns with Komi settlers came into existence further upstream: Ust'-Tsil'ma (1542) and Izhma (1567 or shortly afterwards). The northward expansion ofKomi groups was due to the economic crisis that the Komi were undergoing at that time. Komi livelihood rested on a combination of cattle breeding and land cultivation, hunting and fishing. Their livelihood was characterised by a sedentary life-style (an important distinction from the Nenets). It has been argued that the "economic and cultural type" of the Komi depended on the availability of new, hitherto unexploited, hunting grounds in order to ke(?p the economic balance positive and to guarantee population growth (Istomin, 1998: 25; Konakov and Kotov, 1991: 20). This form of livelihood had an inherent tendency towards expansion and colonisation. The northward move, however, led to an important ecological predicament. While hunting and fishing outputs again increased, the preconditions for agriculture became worse. This was replaced by the intensification of trade in the Russian North in general. Thus, crop agriculture remained at a low level, flour and other goods were bought from the south, and in turn, the Komi procured a growing amount of furs (sable etc.) to satisfy the increasing demand of the Russian market. Izhma' s economy was part of a market economy from its very early days (cf Forsyth 1997: 9; Kertselli 1911: 73 et passim). 62 The move northward led the Komi ever further into Nenets territories. Nenets resistance manifested itself in raids and sieges, as well as in official complaints to the Czar. Nenets-Komi relations, openly hostile in the beginning, became ambivalent in later centuries. On one hand, there was peaceful co-existence and mutual help; on the other, competition for hunting grounds. The Nenets had to cope with decreasing numbers of fur animals - needed for tribute payments - and wild reindeer - used for nutrition and clothing - and the necessity to slaughter domesticated reindeer for emergency food became increasingly frequent. While domesticated reindeer had previously served as a means of transportation, in addition they now served as a source of food. Living close to the Forest Nenets, the Komi of Izhma must have been aware of the Nenets practice of slaughtering domesticated reindeer in large numbers, particularly so as they themselves could see the grave decrease in the output of fur hunting. It should be remembered that fur was the prime source of monetary income for the Izhma Komi. Venturing into the field of speculation, we may imagine a series of episodes in trade relations between the two groups: firstly, some Izhma Komi thought of buying reindeer meat or hides from a Nenets reindeer owner. Secondly, as the exchange of reindeer products versus goods increased, some Izhma Komi got the opportunity to owner reindeer themselves; and thirdly, some Izhma Komi themselves became reindeer herders. The first event, although not noted in any historical account, is necessary as a logical prelude to the establishment of trade contacts between the two groups. The second event, Komi owner- ship of reindeer, dates back to 1649, according to Islavin (1847: 20-21). Yet it was not before the 1760s that the Izhma Komi started migrating with their reindeer herds (Istomin 1998: 33; cf Kertselli 1911: 109- 110). For the Komi, reindeer herding constituted a source of marketable produce from the very start. At the same time, reindeer meat could be used as a substitute for beef and reindeer hides could be processed into clothing. Reindeer husbandry was a new, additional element in Izhma Komi livelihood, which permitted them to diversify their sources of income. Yet while the reindeer-herding families were utilising the resources of both the forest and the tundra, they nevertheless tried to retain their sedentary life-style as much as possible. Before abandoning specific activities, such as agriculture, they at least tried to adapt them to local ecological conditions (Konakov and Kotov 1991: 23-49). In chapter 7, I shall explore the semi-nomadic character of Komi reindeer herding and the dual location of the families' households. 63 It has been argued that the Izhma Komi, who were acquainted with cattle breeding, started engaging in reindeer husbandry with the clear purpose of a productive economic activity, whereas the Nenets had arrived at large-scale reindeer husbandry from an appropriative background (Istomin 1998: 33-4). Komi reindeer owners and herders sought ways to increase the productivity of reindeer husbandry. Such innovations included larger herd sizes, permanent herd supervision, selective breeding for higher meat and skin output, regular slaughter in the autumn, and more regularity in the annual migrations. Already by the early 19th century, Komi reindeer herds were growing faster than Nenets herds, and this was followed by an increase in the wealth of Komi owners. The latter fact also follows more intensive trade relations and increasing demands for certain products, for instance suede. Izhma became the hub of reindeer suede production in European Russia. In the process of transition to large-scale reindeer husbandry in the European north, most Nenets were the losers and many Komi, the winners. With the extermination of hunted animals and the increase in domesticated reindeer, Komi-Nenets quarrels about land shifted from hunting grounds to reindeer pastures. More than once, it has been asked whether ( and if so, to what extent) the Komi reindeer owners tried to outdo the Nenets owners on purpose. This question spurred a scholarly and political debate that has been going on since at least the 1850s21 • Yet even the most affluent reindeer owner can never be sure of his assets, as his stock may dwindle away to almost nothing within months, or even weeks·. In the case of reindeer decimation, the impoverished owner has two choices: either to stay at one place and engage in other activities (e.g. fishing in tundra lakes, in the Nenets case; or trying to find work in Izhma, in the Komi case); or working for another owner with a sizeable herd and needing herdsman-power. In this way the institution of hired herders developed. A hired herder's pay usually comprised a small number of deer per year to be used for restoring his own he'rd in the ultimate hope of becoming an independent herder again. Evidently there were Nenets herdsmen working for Komi owners as well as Komi herdsmen working for Nenets owners. The high number .of Komi-Nenets marriages, widespread knowledge of each other's language and the borrowing ofNenets terminology in Komi reindeer husbandry testify to positive traits in the daily co-existence and co- operation (Zherebtsov, L. N . 1982: 168-170). 21 For example, Bartenev (1998: 143-144); Forsyth (1992: 179-180); Islavin (1847); Kertselli (1911: 109-116); Konakov and Kotov (1991: 37-40, 53-4); Zherebtsov, L. N. (1 982). 64 Izhma Komi reindeer herders gradually spread into ever more remote parts of the tundra, particularly the Bol'shezemel'skaia Tundra. The need to expand the search for new hunting grounds and - now more importantly - access to reindeer pastures is documented in the settlement history of the adjacent forest zone. Komi colonisation along the upper River Usa began in the 1850s and continued until the late 1920s. A number of small hamlets in the forest tundra zone to the north of the Usa appeared around 1900 (Kanev, V. K. 2001; Zherebtsov, I. L. 1994). Izhma Komi economic strategy was successful and geographically expansive at the same time; thus the process of colonisation did not stop at the Urals or the White Sea. In the mid-1880s, the first Izhma families trekked on reindeer sledges to the Kola Peninsula. Even earlier, the first Komi settlers had appeared on the Siberian side of the Urals and at the lower River Ob'. The bulk of the new settlers crossed the Urals in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Evidently, the Bol'shezemel'skaia Tundra had become "too crowded", hence the incentive to move to ever more remote regions. Furthermore, within the Bol'shezemel'skaia Tundra itself, a division concerning the practices of reindeer herding emerged between the western (Izhma) and eastern (Usa) region. In the latter region, the herd size was generally smaller, there were less hired herders, and the processing did not achieve the same level as in Izhma. "That is, Usa reindeer herders tended reindeer, slaughtered them, cut them up and sent off practically all the reindeer 'raw materials' to the Izhma villages, where [people] produced suede from hides, prepared lard, cooked glue from the antlers and hooves, and with these products they entered the Russian and even European market." (Konakov, Kotov and Sharapov 1992: 11, my own translation). The western and eastern groups also began to differ in their usage of winter pastures. While the reindeer herds of Izhma, and also those of Ust'-Usa and surrounding villages, had their winter pastures to the south of the River Pechora (in the Kozhva Forests); the herds of the middle and upper Usa had theirs on the other side of the Urals. Even if one considers the good pasture quality on the eastern slopes of the Urals, this migration route was nevertheless the longest and most cumbersome of all, and the reindeer did not put on as much weight as those of Izhma. The reason for taking on the burden of migrating across the Urals lay in the fact that grazing pressure was lower there than in the areas of the same latitude, on the European side (Konakov, Kotov and Sharapov 1992: 13-16). The pressure on grazing must have been at its height during the .second half of the 19th century and, perhaps, the beginning of the 20th century. Kertselli (1911: 78; 1929: 113) estimated the overall number of domesticated reindeer in the region between the White Sea and the Urals at 450,000 to 600,000. My estimate, based on data as of January 2000 for the same region, amounts to some 230,000 reindeer (appendix 8). Considering that nowadays 65 some officials speak about over-grazing and that "there is no unlimited tundra anymore, every square kilometre is being used by someone", the situation in the early 20th century must have been much more precarious22• Overall, there was a marked diversity in the function and practices of reindeer husbandry in the various parts of the Bol'shezeµiel'skaia Tundra. To the west, Izhma and the pertaining part of the tundra were most clearly oriented towards reindeer husbandry as part of a market economy; at the same time, the Izhma Komi reindeer herders were the most sedentary of all herders. The more animals an owner had, the more likely he was to specialise in reindeer husbandry and trade, and to neglect other sources of income. In the eastern part of the Bol'shezemel'skaia Tundra, conditions were not as favourable. Reindeer herders had less access to markets, their herds were smaller, their migration routes longer; consequently, they spent more time in a nomadic mode. The lesser the number of reindeer in the owner's possession, the more he had to make use of additional sources of income, particularly by hunting and fishing. Relations between the Komi and the Nenets grew stronger, particularly through intermarriage. In this respect, the history of the village of Kolva, not far from Ust'-Usa, is highly instructive (appendix 3). The history of Kolva elucidates the process of ethnic mixture between the two peoples, which resulted in the emergence of a new ethnic group, the so-called Kolvintsy or Kolva Yaran (Istomin 1999; Teriukov 1986: 251; Zherebtsov, L. N. 1982: 168). It was only after my fieldwork that I understood that the reindeer-herding families I lived with are Kolvintsy. The Khatanzeiskii family has not only a Nenets family name, but also the name-giving ancestor, Ter' Starik, was reportedly of Nenets origin. A man baptised and buried under an Orthodox cross, he nonetheless was said to have been a shaman (tadibei), which testifies to his Nenets background. Moreover, the self-perception of the people in brigada N° 9 is not Izhma Komi (Iz 'vatas or Izhemtsy). "If you are not Izhemtsy, what are you?" I asked PoLINA. She replied: "We are Komi. Not Zyriane, you know23 • But neither are we Izhemtsy. We are somewhere in-between." Another time she 22 Apart from the overall head of reindeer, there was another important difference compared with the state of affairs nowadays. Around 1900, the main produce consisted of reindeer hides, which were processed into suede and other materials. Hides of the best quality (in terms of suede productjon) could be obtained in September, as was described by Kertselli, who also mentioned the places of slaughter; these were usually situated in the southern tundra zone (1911: 18-19, 101-103). The meat of the animals slaughtered in September was for local use only. However, meat of good quality (olen 'i zadki) also went for sale to clients within and beyond the reindeer-herding region. Slaughter for high-quality meat was conducted no earlier than October and in vicinity of the reindeer herders' villages; that is, further south, almost in the forest zone (ibid.: I 05). 23 For "Zyriane", cf page 51. 66 I 1i spoke about herself as In 'ka. The latter term is the Komi word for a Nenets woman, while Yaran is a Nenets man. It may be the case that other reindeer herders in Novikbozh and Ust'-Usa perceive the Khatanzeiskii families as being somewhat "more" Nenets than others. Yet the Khatanzeiskii are not the only reindeer- herding families of Ust' -Usa and Novikbozh with a Nenets background. In chapter 7 (page 148), I shall explain how, for the Izhma Komi, Nenets identity relates to concepts of experience, knowledge and the quality of being a good reindeer herder. To conclude this section, let us look back at the main characteristics of Komi reindeer husbandry. We have seen that it is a relatively recent phenomenon and that it was market-oriented from its early days. Towards the end of the 19th century, more than half of the produce of Izhma reindeer husbandry went into trade. These characteristics speak clearly against popular assumptions that reindeer herding per se is a remnant of a tribal or feudal society. If anything, Izhma was part of the capitalist world and Izhma Komi had a colonising influence on their northern and eastern neighbours. It will be interesting to see how Soviet politics dealt with Izhma Komi reindeer owners and herders. 4.3 Komi reindeer husbandry between progress and backwardness The political and economic developments of the 1920s and 1930s led to a paradox situation: on the one hand, reindeer husbandry became peripheral and marginalized for the Komi, on the other hand, the Komi reindeer husbandry methods became even more influential for the other reindeer-herding peoples of the Soviet Union. First, we shall look at the process that made reindeer herding peripheral in the Komi context. 4.3.1 Komi reindeer husbandry becoming marginalized After a period of turmoil from summer 1918 to summer 1921, the Pechora region saw a decade of relative quiet, although there were a number of significant administrative changes. In accordance with Lenin's policy on national minorities, the administrative division changed in August 1921 and again in late 1929. The first date marks the establishment of the Komi Autonomous Oblast', the second the proclamation of the Nenets National Okrug (Atlas Respubliki Komi 2001). Since this time there has been a major administrative boundary cutting right across the reindeer pastures of both the Komi and the Nenets. The boundary itself is invisible in the landscape; Komi and Nenets reindeer herds and herders cross it twice a year. The boundary is no neat division between the ==- 67 I _.. spoke about herself as In 'ka. The latter term is the Komi word for a Nenets woman, while Yaran is a Nenets man. It may be the case that other reindeer herders in Novikbozh and Ust' -Usa perceive the Khatanzeiskii families as being somewhat "more" Nenets than others. Yet the Khatanzeiskii are not the only reindeer- herding families of Ust'-Usa and Novikbozh with a Nenets background. In chapter 7 (page 148), I shall explain how, for the Izhma Komi, Nenets identity relates to concepts of experience, knowledge and the quality of being a good reindeer herder. To conclude this section, let us look back at the mam characteristics of Komi reindeer husbandry. We have seen that it is a relatively recent phenomenon and that it was market-oriented from its early days. Towards the end of the 19th century, more than half of the produce of Izhma reindeer husbandry went into trade. These characteristics speak clearly against popular assumptions that reindeer herding per se is a remnant of a tribal or feudal society. If anything, Izhma was part of the capitalist world and Izhma Komi had a colonising influence on their northern and eastern neighbours. It will be interesting to see how Soviet politics dealt with Izhma Komi reindeer owners and herders. 4.3 Komi reindeer husbandry between progress and backwardness The political and economic developments of the 1920s and 1930s led to a paradox situation: on the one hand, reindeer husbandry became peripheral and marginalized for the Komi, on the other hand, the Komi reindeer husbandry methods became even more influential for the other reindeer-herding peoples of the Soviet Union. First, we shall look at the process that made reindeer herding peripheral in the Komi context. 4. 3.1 Kami reindeer husbandry becoming marginalized After a period of turmoil from summer 1918 to summer 1921, the Pechora region saw a decade of relative quiet, although there were a number of significant administrative changes. In accordance with Lenin's policy on national 'minorities, the administrative division changed in August 1921 and again in late 1929. The first date marks the establishment of the Komi Autonomous Oblast', the second the proclamation of the Nenets National Okrug (Atlas Respubliki Kami 2001). Since this time there has been a major administrative boundary cutting right across the reindeer pastures of both the Komi and the Nenets. The boundary itself is invisible in the landscape; Komi and Nenets reindeer herds and herders cross it twice a year. The boundary is no neat division between the 67 ' I I 111 I ' I nationalities: some 5,000 ethnic Komi live in the Nenets Okrug and a few ethnic Nenets live in Komi. However, the boundary and the different status of the two territories have had significant implications for the further development of reindeer husbandry in the European north, as I shall show now. South of the border, in the Komi Autonomous Oblast' of the 1920s, reindeer husbandry received comparatively little attention. I do not mean to argue that in pre- revolutionary times, reindeer husbandry in the European north constituted a prime issue in regional politics. But it would be equally unfair to say that the Czarist administration did not care at all about this issue (as was stated in some Soviet publications) - otherwise Kertselli would not have conducted his expeditions to the reindeer herders of the Bol'shezemel'skaia Tundra. In the period between 1900 and 1915, a number of articles were published on the question of the economic value of reindeer husbandry and the economic situation of Nenets and Komi reindeer-herding families24• Affluent Izhma reindeer owners even tried to organise a professional association in order to lobby for their interests and to improve herding conditions by their own financial means. They came up with this idea in 1899 or soon afterwards, but were frustrated by the fact that by 1908 the statutes of the planned association were still sitting on the desk of the governor in Arkhangel'sk and some Moscow ministry. At this stage the reindeer owners dropped their plans (Kertselli 1929: 116). Unlike the official meetings of reindeer herders from the 1930s to the 1980s, which were organised from above, this early initiative proves that Izhma reindeer owners had a comparatively high level of self-confidence in the importance of their business and actively sought to promote it. By the 1920s, however, the reindeer-herding area of the Komi Autonomous Oblast' had become the outskirts of a region whose agricultural function was determined by timber cutting, cattle rearing ( meat and dairy products) and flax production (Babushkin 1931 : 78)25• Archival materials show that in the first years of intensive collectivisation (1928- 1930), all the emphasis was laid upon these activities, whereas reindeer husbandry was not mentioned26• The first published document concerning the, collectivisation of reindeer- 24 For example, Dobrotvorskii (1902; 1904); Zhukov (1909); Liubov (1911); Kertselli (1910); these references can be found in the index of the bibliography compiled by Kuzakova (1994). Also compare the many entries in the bibliography compiled by A. F. Shidlovskii, in KertseJii (1911). 25 Unfortunately, I could not get hold of Babushkin's monograph Bol'shezemel'skaia tundra (Syktyvkar, 1930). 26 The analysis of archival materials for the period from 1927 to 1937 is based on the documents compiled and published by Stal' (ed.) 1964. Even if the selection of documents published in this book may not entirely back-up the categorical character of my statement, the general tendency is clearly evident. For this thesis, I examined documents in the Komi State Archive concerning the development of reindeer 68 herding families in the north of Komi was circulated in January 1930. "Considering the extreme conservatism of the tundra population, their unculturedness (nekul 'turnost ')"27, the Communist Party Committee of the Komi Autonomous Oblast' recommended initiating the process of collectivisation by establishing state farms (sovkhoz) rather than collective farms (kolkhoz). Before explaining the meaning of this recommendation, let me stress one important point: it was not by accident that Komi reindeer herders were now described as uncultured and conservative. The "unculturedness" of Komi reindeer herders was in line with the now emerging tendency to view reindeer herders in general as "backward" (Krupnik 1993: 87). The assumption that reindeer husbandry is characteristic of archaic societies contributed to the process whereby Komi reindeer husbandry lost its prestige and became marginalized within the Komi context. To return to the document of January 1930 and its recommendation, it expresses the Party's official advice to regional authorities all over the North, to abstain from mass collectivisation among reindeer herders until further notice (Berkhin (ed.) 1981: 236; cf Stal' (ed.) 1964: 275-6). Instead, the advantages of socialist forms of reindeer husbandry were to be propagated by the establishment of state farms (sovkhoz)28• In fact, the state farm "Ust'-Usinskii" came into existence sometime in 1930. It is the oldest of the reindeer- herding enterprises that still exist nowadays ( although from the very beginning it has seen numerous organisational changes). In the early 1930s, it operated as the centre of "socialist reindeer husbandry" for the entire north of Komi. herding in the period of 1954 to 1959 (see below, section 4.4) but I did not look at documents from the late 1920s or 1930s. The perusal of archival materials from the 1920s and especially the 1930s remains a desideratum for further research on Komi reindeer husbandry. 27 Stal' (ed.) 1964: 269, own translation. 28 Agricultural collectivisation in the Soviet Union has been described in detail by numerous authors; there is also a range of specific studies on the collectivisation in the Far North, for example, Slezkine (1994) and Weiser (1989) about the entire Far North; Balzer (1999) about the Khanty; Golovnev and Osherenko ( 1999) about the Yamal region; Habeck ( 1998) about the Evenki Autonomous Okrug. For the purpose of this study, it is expedient to explain only the different levels of collectivisation as of around 1930. Initially, there was a three-tier system of so-called associations (tovarishchestvo), col- lectives proper (artel') and communes (kommuna), all subsumed under the term "collective enterprises" (kollektivnoe khoziaistvo), hence the well-known acronym kolkhoz. In theory, at least, all these "collective enterprises" were established through peasants uniting as shareholders. Officially, the chairman of the kolkhoz was accountable to the congregation of the members of the collective. In thjs, the kolkhoz differs from the state farm, the sovkhoz (acronym for sovetskoe khoziaistvo, or "Soviet enterprise"). In terms of its organisation, the sovkhoz functioned like a nationalised factory with a director and with workers receiving regular salaries every month, whereas the members of the kolkhoz received their pay in relation to the enterprise's annual profits. The sovkhoz was deemed the most progressive institutional form of agriculture because it "equalised" the living conditions of the rural proletariat with those of the urban proletariat. This also coincided with the Soviet policy of industrialisation of the country as a whole, and of agriculture in particular. More than the kolkhoz farms, the sovkhoz farms were to demonstrate the advantages of the new agricultural policies. 69 In the Komi Autonomous Oblast', the preconditions for rapid agricultural and industrial development were not among the best. Therefore, the ambitious programme of collectivisation lagged behind many other parts of the country (Stal' (ed.) 1964 ), in spite of the forceful methods applied by the Soviet authorities. The political executive in the regions suffered from the intended and unintended inconsistencies of the collectivisation policy at federal level. It appears that · one of the easier methods for the administrators "in the provinces" (na mestakh) to escape the wrath of the central authorities consisted of ' reporting the absence of data. The northern part of the Komi Autonomous Oblast' was notoriously bad in this respect. Moreover, the data on agriculture usually did not include any figures on reindeer husbandry, for "more or less, an exact calculation of the head of reindeer did not exist"29• We may suspect that life in Izhma and the surrounding villages in the mid-I920s had not changed very much from life in the early 1910s. The overwhelming majority of reindeer still belonged to private owners; suede manufacturing was still dominated by the same entrepreneurs as before; and Izhma Komi traders continued commerce in the tundra, even if this had become illegal. I propose that the main period of collectivisation among Komi reindeer herders started in late 1930 or early 1931 and ended in 193530• In other words, it happened with some delay, if compared with the non-reindeer-herding regions in the south of Komi. Yet it also slightly lagged behind the collectivisation of reindeer herders in the western part of the neighbouring Nenets Okrug (cf page 75). In my interpretation, the delay resulted mainly from the peripheral role of reindeer husbandry in Komi, for the Komi government was focussing on other economic branches. Over the 1930s and subsequent decades, the Communist leadership paid increasing attention to the extraction of mineral resources in the Pechora basin, and the problem of finding cheap labour was solved by deporting "the enemies of the people" to the north. Twice the central government clamped down on its regional executives, who allegedly had gone too far in their zeal for high percentages in the collectivisation campaign. The first reprimand came in March 1930. Apparently, it had little effect on the course of action in the north of Komi: the abovementioned warning to abstain from mass collectivisation turned out to be unnecessary, as the regional authorities had not yet taken any action. However, by autumn 1931 the leadership of the Communist Party again started to speed up the process of collectivisation, in the Far North as well as in the country as a 29 Berkhin (ed.) 1981 : 231 , annotation; my own translation. 70 whole. The officials responsible in Izhma and Ust' -Usa (which by then had become a district centre) had to submit reports on their achievements in collectivising reindeer herders. What transpires from these reports is frustration not only about limitations in personnel, means of transport etc., but also about the absence of any clear line in the relevant policies (Stal' (ed.) 1964: 450-453; cf . Slezkine 1994: 210, 212). Having no definite idea yet of how to collectivise reindeer herders, the authorities at least wanted to start a basic examination of the socio-economic breakdown of reindeer-herding households in order to isolate the richest among them and to avoid these "exploiters" becoming the leading group in the collective farms yet to be founded. Along the lines of the Soviet pattern of classification of the peasantry, reindeer-herding households were to be grouped into four categories: people hired for agricultural work by others (batraki) as the sup- posedly poorest group, poor peasants (bedniaki), peasants of average means (seredniaki) and rich peasants (kulaki). The ultimate goal was to "liquidate the kulaki as a class". This social classification among Komi reindeer herders must have started in late 1930 or early 1931, on the instructions of the Communist Party in Moscow and Syktyvkar31• Social classification was a decisive step: in the last section we have seen the emergence of a sizeable group of "capitalists" in Izhma in pre-revolutionary times, and these rich reindeer owners, suede manufacturers and tradesmen were left virtually untouched from 1922 to 1929. By late 1930, though, they must have realised that they were facing expropriation and the harshest repressive measures, such as resettlement, prison or death. The most feasible way, it must have seemed to them, was to escape from the ambit of Soviet power by retiring to the Northern Urals. According to a list compiled by the Izhma Committee of the Communist Party on 5 April 1932, in the course of the previous two years, 30 kulaki from Izhma and the middle U sa had defected to the Urals, taking with them 21,500 reindeer32 (anything between 5% and 10% of the overall head of reindeer in the Komi Autonomous Oblast')33 • The document quoted is the only one I could get hold of which testifies to the "liquidation of the kulaki as class". In a working paper on the state of 30 The official data on the degree of collectivisation as of January 1935 is quoted by Berkhin (ed.) 1981: 257. Data as of 1940 is quoted in the Atlas Respubliki Kami 2001: 393. 31 Ust'-Sysol'sk, the capital of the Komi Autonomous Oblast', was renamed Syktyvkar (meaning in the Komi language: "the town at the River Sysola") in 1930. 32 "Spisok kochuiushchikh (skryvaiushchikh) kulakov Izhemskogo raiona za Uralom" (List of nomadic (hidden) kulaki of the Izhma District behind the Urals). Komi gosudarstvennyi Arkhiv politicheskikh par- tii i dvzhenii (formerly, Komi Arkhiv KPSS), fond 619, opis' 1, delo 30, list 24. Kanev, V. K. (2001: 23) mentions how his father talked about seven families "vanishing" in this way. 33 I do not have any figures of the overall head of deer in the Komi Autonomous Oblast' for this period. Judging from various publications, it must have been between 200,000 and 400,000. 71 reindeer husbandry in the Komi Republic, issued by the Association of World Reindeer Herders (cf pp. 159-160), it is said that "in the years of collectivisation, the Izhma Komi suffered from de-kulakisation, and repress-ions in connection with it, more than the Saami or Nenets. This was caused also by their more sedentary life. Rich reindeer owners did not always migrate with the herds, often they lived in the settlements, hiring Nenets as herders .. . " (Asso~iation .. . 1999b: [ 14 ], my own translation). Regrettably, the authors of the working paper do not give any references here. To be sure, the affluent reindeer owners and tundra traders of Izhma could not expect any mercy. Meanwhile, they must have had heard about the Soviet government resettling kulaki from other parts of the Soviet Union into the Komi Autonomous District and using them for forced labour. At the same time, the first contingents of reindeer-owning kulaki had been sent off to logging areas in the south of Komi. Soon, the labour camps would be crammed not only with kulaki but also with thousands of "anti-Soviet elements", including victims of Party purges, members of the intelligentsiia, chairmen of the first collective farms and officials "from the provinces". For this and other reasons, the second reprimand from the centre of power, in September 1932, meant a much bigger threat for the local executives. This time, the Communist Party clamped down specifically on its echelons in the Far North and accused them of having violated the basic principles of Leninism by organising collectives in the wrong way34. The accusations were forwarded to, among many others, the executive committee of Ust' -Usa, whose members reacted with a mixture of self-criticism and action. Instructors were sent out to the reindeer- herding collectives in order to re-organise them as required35 • Notwithstanding the Party's lip service to carrying out collectivisation in a careful way, it was now in full swing and achieved a character of mass hysteria. Between 1930 and 1936, approximately 70 reindeer-herding collective farms (kolkhoz) were established in the Komi part of the Pechora basin. To give an example, one of the earlier foundations was the kolkhoz "Kodzuv" in Petrun' , established as an "association for joint land cultivation (TOZ) in late 1930. In the next year, three reindeer-herding households united their reindeer, which is marked as the beginning of collective reindeer herding in the history of the village (Shashok and Lytkin 34 To be exact, the accusation was that the local officials had organised the tundra proletarians in "collectives" (artel ' ) and not, as they should have done, in "associations" (tovarishchestvo). Cf annotation 28. 35 The document has the title "Postanovlenie prezidiuma Ust'-Usinskogo raiispolkoma Komi avtonomnoi oblasti o formakh kollektivizatsii olenevodcheskikh khoziaistv v tundre" (Resolution of the Ust'-Usa District Executive Committee of the Komi Autonomous Oblast' on the forms of collectivisation among reindeer-herding households in the tundra), 20 March 1933, and is published in Stal' (ed.) 1964: 531-533. 72 1991: 21 ). All three households were classified as "poor" ( bedniaki) and the head of deer in the collective herd must have been less than 200 initially. Obviously, neither the Communist officials wished the richer reindeer-herding families to join the collective, nor did these families themselves. Only the impoverished part of the population would find it an attractive idea to enter the kolkhoz. They . could hope to profit from governmental support and, after de-kulakisation, to receive their share from the redistribution of livestock. Such expectations, alongside other factors, may have prepared the ground for the later tendencies towards passivity, lack of initiative and the craving for subsidies and privileges that V. K. Kanev bemoans so fervently in his history of the settlement Kharuta (2001: 40-1 ). However, local Soviet historiography is ripe with examples of enthusiasm and shock working (udarnichestvo) and we should not underestimate the commitment of the kolkhozniki to improve their lives and livelihood. Overall, the early collectives were small in size and their economic base very weak. What is more, owing to the havoc of collectivisation, the head of deer of the Komi Autonomous District diminished by two- thirds between 1927 and 1934 (Slezkine 1994: 212). Only in the second half of the 1930s did the herds recover (Berkhin (ed.) 1981 : 254). In August 1929, the first deported people arrived in the north of Komi. April 1930 saw the establishment of the GULAG as a special "administration" for all camps and places of resettlement and the following years were characterised by ever-increasing numbers of deported people (Atlas Respubliki Komi 2001: 396; Forsyth 1997: 13-15; Skvoznikov et al. 2001: 67). Their involuntary "stay" in Komi had two important outcomes. Firstly, they constructed railways, coalmines, factories and whole towns in the hitherto unindustrialised Pechora region. Most settlements along the railway initially emerged as islands of the "archipelago" GULAG. Such was the case with Inta, Vorkuta and the town of Pechora (Bursian 1994: 6; Zherebtsov, I. L. 1994: 48, 184). Secondly, a sizeable number of deported people stayed in these settlements after their release. When in 1956 the GULAG was disbanded, the Komi and Nenets on the Usa and upper Pechora rivers were outnumbered by citizens of other nationalities, , notwithstanding the fact that countless people lost their lives in the GULAG, as well as in the Second World War. From the 1950s onward, the previously high prestige of reindeer husbandry gradually gave way to a discourse dominated by the demand to extract mineral resources for the sake of the whole country (see chapter 5)36• 36 Forced labour was probably also used for the construction of two factories related to reindeer husbandry: a food-processing plant in Ust'-Usa, producing, among other things, tinned reindeer meat, and the suede 73 4.3.2 Kami reindeer husbandry becoming a model for Soviet reindeer husbandry I have stated that in the Komi Autonomous Oblast' and later in the Komi ASSR37, reindeer husbandry had become marginal on the grounds of the specific economic functions allocated to the territory. Yet the second part of the statement was that at the same time, Komi methods in reindeer husbandry became increasingly influential for other reindeer- herding peoples in the Soviet Union. The rationale behind this development was the attempt at industrialising and intensifying reindeer husbandry alongside other branches of agriculture. The scientific basis for this "industrialisation" was prepared by a number of scholars who worked in co-operation with the government's Committee of the North (cf Slezkine 1994, the journal Sovetskii Sever etc.). Judging from the contemporary literature, Sergei Vasil'evich Kertselli, to whom I have referred repeatedly, played a prominent role in this process (appendix 4 gives a brief overview of his biography and ideas). After about 1929, all reindeer-herding peoples of the Soviet North, be they Nenets or Chukchi, Even or Evenki, were to increase their productivity indicators. For example, Nenets collectives proclaimed that they would conduct reindeer herding "in a new way"38 • It appears that the incentive to develop an "industrialised" form of reindeer husbandry was higher among the Nenets (and other northern peoples) than among the Izhma Komi, for two reasons. Firstly, the practices of Komi reindeer husbandry already came close to the criteria of "industrialised" production. (Komi reindeer husbandry represented the model case, after all). Secondly, regional differences in governmental attention to reindeer husbandry derived from · Soviet policies on national minorities. Most minorities received their ethnically defined territories and once these had been delineated, they needed some kind of economic function. As mentioned, Komi got fossil fuel extraction, timber felling, cattle breeding and flax cultivation as main economic objectives. Owing to the more northern location of the Nenets Okrug, the region was to deliver other goods: fish, furs and reindeer, plant in Ust'-Tsil'ma. The project to build such factories derived from the objective of giving reindeer husbandry an "industrial drive" (as was the case with agriculture in general). Interestingly, the suede plant was erected in Ust'-Tsil'ma and not - as one might expect - in Izhma. This may be interpreted as a deliberate measure to eliminate the suede factories in private possession and consequently, the basis for wealth accumulation among the bourgeoisie of Izhma. 37 In 1936, the Komi Autonomous Oblast' was conferred the status of an Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic (abbreviated as ASSR). 38 To give the full quotation: "In the collective farms we will develop reindeer husbandry in a new way, we will hunt animals and catch fish in greater amounts and in a correct way." From the "Rezolutsiia pervogo Nenetskogo okruzhnogo sleta kolkhoznikov-nentsev . .. " (Resolution of the First Congregation of Nenets collective farmers in the Nenets Okrug ... quoted in Stal (ed.) 1964: 478, see also pp. 400; 580-1). 74 and as much as possible of everything39• Hence came the initiative to establish motorised fishing bases, fox farms and "industrial" reindeer husbandry in the Nenets Okrug as well as in all other okrugs of the Soviet North. The Komi reindeer herders, though, did not fit this economic classification; they ended up somewhere in-between. Along these lines of argumentation, we may also account for the fact that in the Nenets Okrug, officials paid attention to collectivising reindeer husbandry slightly earlier than in the Komi Autonomous Oblast'. The European Nenets served as the model case for the integration of the so-called numerically small peoples of the North into socialist society40• March 1929 marks the establishment of the "First Nenets Reindeer-Herding Kolkhoz" in the Malozemel'skaia Tundra41 • By the end of the same year, the Nenets National Okrug42 was designed as the first ethnically defined territory of the numerically small peoples of the North (the other Okrugs were founded in late 1930). In the regions inhabited by these peoples, the government's Committee of the North set up a number of culture bases (kul 'tbazy). Again, one of the first culture bases, Khoseda-Khard, was constructed in the European part of the Nenets region. Appendix 5 deals with the history of Khoseda-Khard as it is also closely connected to the history of reindeer herding of the Komi. To sum up this section, the 1930s brought along de-kulakisation and collectivisation, leading not only to a decline in the overall head of reindeer but also to the dwindling of the entrepreneurial drive hitherto inherent in large-scale Komi reindeer herding. Yet at the same time, its market-oriented character begat the idea of giving reindeer herding an "industrial" shape, with the implication that other peoples of the Far North were to appropriate elements of large-scale Komi reindeer husbandry into their own patterns of reindeer herding. Further, as the Bol'shezemel'skaia Tundra was cut up into two ethnic territories in 1929, the historical connections between the Nenets and the Komi got weaker and - in the subsequent decades - they were partially severed. What is more, the Nenets, as 39 Like the Komi Autonomous Oblast', the Nenets Okrug also was envisaged as a region of mineral resource extraction. In the 1930s, fluorite extraction started on the shore of the Kara Sea, and hence emerged the settlement of Amderma, probably inhabited by deported people or prisoners, as was the case with Vorkuta. The area of Vorkuta was situated on the border of the two administrative units until 1937 or 1940, when the federal government decided to put the whole area under Komi administration (Bunakov 1936: 34; Atlas Respubliki Kami 2001: 395). 40 The Komi did not, and do not, belong to this category of peoples ( cf page 1 and page 159). 41 CJ Khornich (1966: 236); Saprygin (1930); its later development is described by Tuisku (1999). About the process of collectivisation in the Nenets Okrug in general, see Bunakov (1936); Khomich (1966); Tuisku (1999); Tverfjell (2001); and the journal Sovetskii Sever. 42 Officially: Nenets National Okrug (Nenetskii natsional 'nyi okrug) until 1977; thereafter: Nenets Auto- nomous Okrug (Nenetskii avtonomnyi okrug). 75 a "numerically small people of the North", became a reindeer-herding people par excellence, whereas the government and the Communist Party paid less attention to the development of reindeer husbandry in the Komi Autonomous Oblast'. Hence, I argue that in the 1930s, reindeer husbandry was being marginalized in the political (but also cultural) context of the Komi as a nation. And hence. Istomin comes to the conclusion that "a paradoxical situation has come into existence: now we know much more about the impact Komi reindeer herders made upon other peoples than about Komi reindeer herding itself' 2000: 49). I would like to point at one additional problem: with regard to the process of collectivisation of reindeer-herding households, we know much more about the measures of the Communist Party and the government than about the reactions of those affected. The document quoted on page 71 is the only source that sheds some light on the responses of the reindeer-herding families. We know the things that were done with reindeer herders but not the things they did themselves. For the present thesis, this has an important consequence. This thesis examines aspects of agency and the ways in which members of reindeer-herding families take decisions. In this respect, the 1930s appear a period characterised by a strongly limited remit, perhaps simply because of the lack of data at individual level, but more probably because the members of reindeer-herding families had hardly any choice indeed. Although I do not seek to deny the argument that "the lzhma Komi suffered ... more than the Saami or Nenets" from the forceful transition to the new socio-economic reality (cf page 72), I shall show, however, that Komi reindeer herders seemingly made peace with the new social order of the collective farms and state farms. Moreover, nowadays for most of them the collective or state farm appears to be the most convenient way of reindeer herding ( chapter 6). 16 ------ ---------------------'!'II 98 OJIEHEBO,llCTBO n E q O R 0 ---··----- A,rrop~ Macwr.11! 1,4000000 Figure 20. Reindeer pastures of Komi enterprises as of 1955. Source: Atlas Komi Avtonomnoi Sovetskoi Sotsialisticheskoi Respubliki (1964: 98). Blue: winter pastures; pink: summer pastures; light green: spring and autumn pastures; dark green: areas of "forest reindeer husbandry" (see note below); dark blue: reserve pastures; grey: transitional pastures; light brown: winter pastures of -reindeer-herding enterprises of the Nenets Okrug; violet: pastures of reindeer-herding enterprises of the Khanty-Mansi Okrug and Yamal-Nenets Okrug. Broken line: migration routes over the Urals; red circles: central bases of reindeer-herding enterprises in the Komi ASSR. Note: "forest reindeer husbandry" (lesnoe olenevodstvo) started in the southern parts of the Komi ASSR in the mid-1940s; it was designed as an experiment by the agricultural authorities. The reindeer-herding enter-prises in the upper reaches of River Vychegda (bottom centre of map) had a comparatively successful record but ceased to exist in the early 1990s, when the whole agricultural sector of Russia entered a stage of deep crisis. Apart from this region, forest reindeer husbandry was also pursued in the west of the Komi ASSR (Udora District), but probably bad already ceased in the early 1960s. 77 4.4 "Losing reindeer without notice": centralisation and the question of responsibility The above suggestion that Komi reindeer husbandry became marginalized in the 1930s and 1940s does not mean, however, that it ebbed away in the following decades. In the first post-war decade (1944 to 1954), it continued quite successfully and achieved a new climax, most notably in geographical terms. In terms of territorial extent, Komi reindeer herding had its maximum in 1954 (figure 20). In the same year, the overall number of deer reached a peak (in the Komi ASSR alone, there were some 160,000 collective animals, plus some 15% of private animals). Yet the subsequent years indicate a brisk decline. What happened? On the basis of archival materials that I collected in the Komi State Archive in Syktyvkar, it is possible to reconstruct the dynamics of reindeer husbandry in the Komi ASSR in the second half of the 1950s. In order to exemplify the problematic situation in those years, I shall speak about the state farm "Laiskii" and neighbouring "Ust'-Usinskii". State farms, it should be remembered, were founded as the vanguard of socialist reindeer husbandry in the Komi region. Hence, one may assume that they were in a privileged situation and showed a better economic performance than the collective farms. For "Laiskii", though, the opposite seems to be the case. "Laiskii", established in 1935 by resettled kulaki, had its central base in a newly constructed settlement 15 kilometres north of Mutnyi Materik, on the banks of the Pechora. From here, the reindeer-herding brigades moved in a northerly and northeasterly direction to their summer pastures beside the Barents Sea. Although the migration route corresponded well with the general pattern of migrations in the Bol'shezemel'skaia Tundra, the officials _of "Laiskii" complained about the very poor quality of the pastures allotted to them. This complaint is rendered in the state farm's annual report (otchet)43 for 1955, a dramatic year for reindeer husbandry in the Europe~ North in general because of a foot-and-mouth epidemic. "Laiskii" lost three-fifths of their deer in this year. Besides the complaints about these losses, the report also raised concerns such as bad pastures, altercations with the meat-trading organisation, a shortage of workers, and of senior herdsmen in particular (which was most probably a direct result of the war). Of specific 78 interest is the conclusion that the abundance of predators, the lack of herdsmen and other . factors did not allow every single animal to be kept under surveillance and that "reindeer losses without notice (bez vesti) were admitted in [all] herds"44 • Having lost all but 3,000 reindeer, the management of the state farm recommended abandoning "Laiskii" altogether and handing c>Ver the remaining animals to the state farm "Ust'-Usinskii". Therefore in 1957 or 1958, the central base was shut down and most state farm workers moved to Novikbozh or Ust'-Usa (FM [fieldwork materials] 129) - among them the family of young Valerii Leont'ev (cf page 39). The management of the state farm "Laiskii" argued that the merger with the state farm "Ust'-Usinskii" would improve the pasture situation. They said that "Ust'-Usinskii" had favourable and abundant winter pastures in the Kozhva Forests. Yet four years later (1960) the management of "Ust'- Usinskii" themselves had to hand in a report45 , in which they say that the winter grazing areas had deteriorated owing to over-grazing as well as the logging activities of timber companies on their territory. The reindeer-herding brigades did not have enough workers because the state farm had problems acquiring new people who wanted to work in the tundra and taiga. In addition, it is reported that wolves caused big trouble. The herdsmen themselves killed four wolves and one wolverine. "In such a situation, the possibility of reindeer losses without notice (bez vesti) cannot be excluded"46 • Both reports - the one by "Laiskii" 1956 and the one by "Ust'-Usinskii" 1960 - obviously represent justifications before the superior authorities (the Ministry of Agriculture of the Komi ASSR). In the archival materials, the inclusion of comprehensive reports signals that in the given year and in the given enterprise, something went seriously wrong (if things were alright, tables like the one in appendix 6 were deemed sufficient). Sometimes the reports read as if written for somebody who has no idea about the day-to- day business of reindeer herding. Certainly, the authors felt that they would be held responsible for malpractices without any reason if they did not manage to make themselves understood. The management had to explain why sometimes reindeer disappear without any reason. Such remarks must be seen as a reaction to the ~onstant reminders by the Party and Ministry that the herders must achieve maximum "productive output of calves per 100 43 "Proizvodstvennyi otchet Laiskogo olen'sovkhoza za 1955 god" (Production report of the Laiskii Reindeer State Farm for 1955). Gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Respubliki Komi, fond R-408, opis' 1, tom 1, delo 2139, list 119-127. 44 Ibid., page (list) 120. 45 "Proizvodstvennyi otchet sovkhoza 'Ust'-Usinskii' za 1959 god" (Production report of the Ust'-Usinskii Reindeer State Farm for 1959). Gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Respubliki Komi, fond R-408, opis' I, tom I, delo 2315-A, list 60-68. 46 Ibid., page (list) 61. T9 January females" and "preservation of adult deer" (appendices 6 and 7). Apart from the sheer impossibility of declaring the cause of death of every single animal, the reindeer- herding families might not always have been particularly interested in this exercise, as shall be explained in chapter 6 (page 117). In short, while the higher authorities could not completely trust the state farm managers and asked for reports and justifications, the state farm managers could not completely trust the brigadiers and asked equally for reports and justifications. The individual herder's responsibility became increasingly abstract, which is connected with the process of centralisation and enlargement of agricultural enterprises (ukrupnenie). "Laiskii" merged with "Ust'-Usinskii"; soon afterwards the state farm "Ust'- U sinskii" took over the reindeer herds of three nearby collective farms along the U sa; and by late 1959, the state farm received the reindeer of the collective farms of Ust'-Usa and Novikbozh47 • In the late 1950s and 1960s, all collective farms (kolkhoz) in the north of the Komi Republic were integrated into one or another state farm (sovkhoz); and the state farms themselves were swallowing each other up. The re-organisation was promoted as the transition to the most progressive form of socialist agriculture at the political level, and as an assurance of regular pay for the workers, in other words, a salary independent from the year-to-year financial perfom1ance of the enterprise. If, in 1954, there were 83 reindeer- herding collective farms and six reindeer-herding state farms in the Komi ASSR, by the year 2000 only nine reindeer-herding enterprises have been left (appendix 7). By the late 1950s, two reindeer-herding enterprises had become subordinated to the Vorkuta Coal Combinate48 • Thus, by now there were Komi herdsmen tending state reindeer and being on the pay-roll of a coal company. Comparing the situation of around 1960 with that of around 1900, we realise the fundamental differences in the reindeer herders' accountability (cf page 170). From the perspective of the members of successful collective farms, the integration into ever larger units called forth a decrease in the workers' motivation and dwindling material assets. When in the late 1960s the collective farm "imeni Lenina" (based in 47 These two collective farms had the names: Sotsialisticheskii udamik (Novikbozh) and Pravda (Ust'-Usa). Ibid., page (list) 60. 48 "Otchety olenevodcheskikh sovkhozov i kolkhozov Komi ASSR" (Reports of the reindeer-herding state farms and collective farms in the Komi ASSR), Gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Respubliki Komi, fond R-408, opis' 1, tom I, delo 2080, list 11; delo 2315-A, list 8. The Vorkuta Coal Combinate was not the only industrial enterprise to employ reindeer herders. Until December 1999, the state farm "Fion" counted as a sub-division of the Northern Railway Line. In the Soviet Union, many large industrial enterprises had their ancillary agricultural units to secure food procurement for their workers. 80 January females" and "preservation of adult deer" (appendices 6 and 7). Apart from the sheer impossibility of declaring the cause of death of every single animal, the reindeer- herding families might not always have been particularly interested in this exercise, as shall be explained in chapter 6 (page 117). In short, while the higher authorities could not completely trust the state farm managers and aske,d for reports and justifications, the state farm managers could not completely trust the brigadiers and asked equally for reports and justifications. The individual herder's responsibility became increasingly abstract, which is connected with the process of centralisation and enlargement of agricultural enterprises (ukrupnenie). "Laiskii" merged with "Ust'-Usinskii"; soon afterwards the state farm "Ust'- Usinskii" took over the reindeer herds of three nearby collective farms along the Usa; and by late 1959, the state farm received the reindeer of the collective farms of Ust'-Usa and Novikbozh47• In the late 1950s and 1960s, all collective farms (kolkhoz) in the north of the Komi Republic were integrated into one or another state farm (sovkhoz); and the state farms themselves were swallowing each other up. The re-organisation was promoted as the transition to the most progressive form of socialist agriculture at the political level, and as an assurance of regular pay for the workers, in other words, a salary independent from the year-to-year financial performance of the enterprise. If, in 1954, there were 83 reindeer- herding collective farms and six reindeer-herding state farms in the Komi ASSR, by the year 2000 only nine reindeer-herding enterprises have been left (appendix 7). By the late 1950s, two reindeer-herding enterprises had become subordinated to the Vorkuta Coal Combinate48• Thus, by now there were Komi herdsmen tending state reindeer and being on the pay-roll of a coal company. Comparing the situation of around 1960 with that of around 1900, we realise the fundamental differences in the reindeer herders' accountability (cf page 170). From the perspective of the members of successful collective farms, the integration into ever larger units called forth a decrease in the workers' motivation and dwindling material assets. When in the late 1960s the collective farm "imeni Lenina" (based in 47 These two collective farms had the names: Sotsialisticheskii udamik (Novikbozh) and Pravda (Ust'-Usa). Ibid., page (list) 60. · 48 "Otchety olenevodcheskikh sovkhozov i kolkhozov Komi ASSR" (Reports of the reindeer-herding state farms and collective farms in the Komi ASSR), Gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Respubliki Korni, fond R-408, opis' 1, tom 1, delo 2080, list 11; delo 2315-A, list 8. The Vorkuta Coal Combinate was not the only industrial enterprise to employ reindeer herders. Until December 1999, the state farm "Fion" counted as a sub-division of the Northern Railway Line. In the Soviet Union, many large industrial enterprises had their ancillary agricultural units to secure food procurement for their workers. 80 Petrun') became a branch of the state farm "Fion" (Abez'), the inhabitants of Petrun' had to accept the redistribution of the basic funds, their reindeer pastures, etc. The inhabitants of Petrun' were not pleased when they realised that even "their" hay was shipped to Abez'. Likewise, technical equipment was removed from Petrun' and taken to the central base. Building projects and activities were now limited to the central base. With regard to the late 1960s, Shashok and Lytkin (1991: 23) wrote that "[t]he productivity indicators are declining and, most importantly, the previous independence is not there [anymore]". Petrun' exemplifies one of the few cases where the previous management - backed by the community - successfully insisted in the restoration of their "own" enterprise: in 1971, the state farm "Fion" was split up again and a "state hunting enterprise" (gospromkhoz) was organised in Petrun'. Concerning the number and the pasture allotments of the reindeer-herding enterprises in the Komi Republic, the situation has been comparatively stable since the early 1970s. Until recently, there were one, two or three reindeer-herding enterprises per district: "Olenevod" in the District of Vorkuta; "Fion", "gospromkhoz Intinskii" and "Bol'shaia Inta" in the District of Inta; "Ust'-Usinskii" and "Sevemyi" in the District of Usinsk; and finally "Izhemskii olenevod" in the District of Izhma. Before 1992, all of these enterprises had the official status of state farms (sovkhoz). As we have seen throughout this chapter, they operated in neighbourhoods with the collective farms of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Although the enterprises of the Komi Republic and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug went into somewhat different directions, politically and economically, they share the same region - the tundra and forest tundra - and their pastures are interspersed. In this chapter, I have sought to explain how the system of reindeer herding in the north of European Russia has developed over time and space. It has been a long way from the beginnings of Izhma Komi reindeer herding (section 4.2) to the transition of all Komi reindeer-herding enterprises into state farms (section 4.3). However, from a historical perspective the whole development took place in a clearly confined and relatively short period. Thus, nothing could be more mistaken than to believe that Komi reindeer herding has been going on "since time immemorial". From the 1930s onwards, though, the significance of reindeer husbandry in the Soviet Union was downgraded in the political discourse, by assigning it to the past rather than to the present (section 4.3.1). Komi reindeer husbandry, too, got the label of "backwardness", although paradoxically, it was propagated as the most "progressive" fom1 of reindeer husbandry to other reindeer-herding peoples in the Soviet North (section 4.3.2). Further, I have argued that in the official Soviet 81 historiography, we learn a lot about Komi reindeer herders being acted upon, but very little about Komi reindeer herders being the actors themselves. Their potential for self-intended action, it seems, became smaller throughout the 1930s to the 1950s. As the reindeer- herding enterprises became ever larger, the system of personal and corporate responsibility became more complex and more abstract. The following chapters will show that reindeer herders and their family members often abstain from action in the formalised and normative official sphere; instead they focus their activities on the private and informal sphere, where direct results seem much closer at hand. I have also sought to show that, notwithstanding the seemingly standardised state- farm structure, there has always been a high degree of economic and ethnic diversity throughout the region. The last part of the chapter will continue the overall notion of reindeer herding as a dynamic system. We shall now look at the geographical "fringes" of the system in order to establish how the decisions and actions of managers and herders leave their imprint on the landscape. Thereby we can scrutinise the factors that may positively or negatively influence the development of reindeer herding. 4. 5 Abandoned winter pastures: how do people take decisions about lmul use? The extent to which winter pastures have been abandoned by basically all Komi reindeer- herding enterprises over the last 40 years is so conspicuous that it calls for a closer analysis (cf figure 20). The Kozhva Forests are no longer visited by reindeer herds, as is true with just about all the area south of the middle Pechora49• The only Komi reindeer-herding brigades that still cross the River Pechora with their herds are those of "Izhemskii olenevod". Even more striking is the situation on the eastern side of the Urals. Four Komi reindeer-herding enterprises (those of Inta, Petrun', Abez' and Vorkuta) officially have winter pastures on the Siberian side, but only the Vorkuta brigades are still using them. The reindeer herders and tent workers that I spoke with differed about the reasons why these winter pastures had been abandoned. In the case of "Ust'-Usinskii", the explanation for the loss of winter pastures seems all too easy: with the development of the 49 The brigades of"Ust'-Usinskii", for example, crossed the River Usa regularly until 1976 or 1977. If the reindeer herders of "Ust'-Usinskii" use pasture maps at all, then they use those compiled in 1969. According to these maps, the southern-most winter pastures were located at the headwaters of the River Chikshino, and the northernmost winter pastures did not extend to the Andriushkina rivers and the lower course of the River Khataiakha. Nowadays, the latter area marks the southern edge of "Ust'-Usinskii" winter pastures, while some brigades choose to have their winter camps well beyond the Polar Circle (cf pp. 32-33). 82 oil industry since the mid-1960s, the pastures south of the River Usa were cut off from those to the north of the river. The town of Usinsk, the railway station, the whole area of "Golovnye sooruzheniia" (page 53) and surroundings were built on what used to be the winter pastures of "Ust' -Usinskii". I shall discuss the complex relations between the oil industry and reindeer husbandry in the following chapter. But although the expansion of the area of oil and gas production was, and still is, impacting heavily on the territory of "Ust' -Usinskii", hydrocarbon extraction cannot account for the abandonment of winter pastures in general ( other enterprises do not have to cope with the existence of oil fields, pipelines etc. on their winter pastures). Consequently, there must be additional reasons for the withdrawal. We may think about forms of encroachments from "outside" other than the oil industry. Already by the beginning of the 201h century, Kertselli mentioned that poaching was a constant problem for the reindeer herds in the Kozhva Forests (1911: 88). The pressure from poaching probably increased in the 1930s, when in the same region thousands of deported individuals had to work in the forest without receiving adequate food. Logging itself must have caused a continual problem for the reindeer-herding brigades. We have seen that the management of"Ust'-Usinskii" made a complaint to this effect in 1960 (see page 79). Some historical documents, however, imply that the withdrawal from the southern and eastern pastures could also be caused by changes in the natural environment; most significantly, by climate change. Difficulties occur when the ice of a major river, such as the Pechora or Usa, breaks up earlier than expected. Reindeer herders occasionally explain their reluctance to cross these two big rivers by early thawing50• Climate warming would reduce the period when the rivers are frozen and thus modify the migration pattern of the reindeer herds. One of my interviewees assumed that climate warming is indeed the main factor that impedes the herds in visiting distant winter pastures. Owing to the later freeze- up and earlier break.up of ice on the River Usa, the "Bol' shaia Inta" brigades do not manage to cross the Urals in time; they have to stay on the European side (FM 111 ). But even though climate change will affect reinde~r herding in the following decades, in my opinion the reasons for the abandonment of winter pastures are mostly of a social and economic character. The Komi herdsmen themselves prefer to graze their 5 ° For example, the reindeer herders of "Kharp" (Nenets Autonomous Okrug) now avoid their winter pastures on the western side of the River Pechora (Tuula Tuisku, Oulu/Rovaniemi, personal com- munication, September 2000). The brigades of "Bol' shaia Inta" usually double-check via radio that the Usa has a sufficient ice cover before they drive their herds to the river, otherwise the herds might over-graze the pastures near the river (FM 56). 83 animals on winter pastures that are not too far away from the village where their families live. In mid-winter, only two or three herdsmen look after the reindeer; all the others can stay at their houses. They can look after the family's affairs in the village or just hang out. As one retired herder in Ust'-Usa put it gruffly, "The herds are grazed near the village and the herders come into the village and get drunk" His wife added: "In those days there was another generation of herders. It would have been better for you if you had migrated with them. But nowadays? Well, I don't know. You will freeze!" (FM 82). Obviously, the couple has the perception that over the last decades the professional ethos of the reindeer herders has been diminishing. The same impression appears in V. K. Kanev's remarks about the tendency towards passivity, quoted above (page 73), and it is correlated to my argument that the herders' responsibility became increasingly normative and increasingly abstract at the same time (page 170). Even the most conscious brigade will stop migrating to remote pastures if they fear that they will get no provisions. With the rising expenditure for helicopter flights, the reindeer- herding enterprises have difficulty in supplying the brigades in the remoter parts of the territory. Logically, the brigades have to reduce their spatial mobility and the management has to accept this. One might argue that there is nothing bad about the abandonment of pastures. If there are fewer animals, then of course less pasture is needed. The grazing pressure at the beginning of the 20th century was significantly higher than in the second half of the century. The fact that herders from the middle Usa had started to graze their reindeer on the Siberian side of the Urals was explained by the argument that the European side had become too crowded (page 65). With the long-term decrease of the overall reindeer population, it became evident after some decades that there is no longer any necessity to utilise remote pastures. At present, winter pastures on the Siberian side of the Urals are kept in use only by those reindeer-herding enterprises that are facing an imminent risk of over-grazing. Most enterprises are told that they are more or less operating at the threshold of carrying capacity. Yet in the case of "Olenevod" Vorkut~, the director of the reindeer- herding enterprise insists that his brigades must continue ( or resume) their migrations to the remote winter pastures because he anticipates large-scale pasture degradation in the whole region around Vorkuta. The director said that he has been trying for years to induce a forceful change in the herders ' mentality (lomat' ikh psikhologiiu) (FM 123). The herders ' unwillingness to comply with the director' s instructions is yet another indication of the divergence between the interests of the herders (the brigada people) and those of the 84 managers (the kontora people). At the same time, it shows that the brigada people have their own ways of circumventing the control mechanisms of the management. The balance of power between brigada and kontora will be examined in more detail in chapter 6. As the example of Vorkuta indicates, once the migration routes have been curtailed, they can be restored only with great difficulty. Herdsmen and tent workers from the other enterprises (Inta, Petrun' and Abez' ) are sceptical about the possibility of resuming the migrations across the Urals. "There are too many wolves on the other side"; "Khanty herders now graze their animals on those lands"; "our managers would not be able to supply the brigades in that area"; "the vorga is already overgrown"; "the young people would not find the way anymore" (FM 40, 46, 54). Despite the difficulties in reviving abandoned pastures, the managers of the reindeer- herding enterprise might try to keep usufruct rights to such territories on behalf of the reindeer herders. In this chapter I have shown that reindeer husbandry is dynamic in time and space and one should not exclude the possibility of significant increases in the overall head of reindeer. Are the mechanisms that regulate rights to land prepared for this? The state farm "Ust' -Usinskii" has repeatedly lost access to substantial portions of pasture land51, yet under the present circumstances, it is not likely to gain access to substantial portions of land. Consequently, it has accepted the reduction of its own carrying capacity. Access to pastures, access to land, is both precondition and asset in the hands of reindeer- herding enterprises. The following chapter will examine how conflicting forms of land use are negotiated in the Komi Republic. 5 1 According to the map "lnventarizatsiia olen' ikh pastbishch Komi ASSR" (Inventory of reindeer pastures of the Komi ASSR), which I was kindly permitted to use by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Komi Republic, "Ust' -Usinskii" has "no more right to utilisation of reindeer pastures" in the entire Pechora District. Chapter 5 Oil and land52 This chapter deals with the domain of the oil industry in their relation to reindeer husbandry. As indicated in the introduction, land is the key resource of this chapter, for the reindeer-herding enterprises in the north of the Komi Republic have to grapple with oil companies about rights to land and resources. Nevertheless, land is not only a resource; it is also the arena wherein interactions between reindeer herders and oil workers take place. In this sense, land takes on a double meaning. Chapter 2 has shown that it is not the managers who work and live over long periods in the tundra, but the herders and tent workers. Chapter 3, especially the visit to the kontora, is to endorse this contrast: the managers usually perceive the pastures from an outsider's point of view. (It is they who are using the pasture maps, not the herders.) Chapter 4 contains the message that around 1900, the reindeer pastures in the Bol' shezemel' skaia Tundra used to be commons. Control over land was not exerted officially and property rights remained largely undefined. In the 1930s, these commons were split up, a process that Fondahl (1998) described as "socialist enclosure". Since then, the government has had the privilege of allocating the land, it at its own discretion, to various institutions and organisations53 • After 1985 previous decisions about land use have been criticised, and forthcoming ones contested. Over the last fifteen years, many books, articles, reports and films have been devoted to the issue of conflicting forms of land use in the Russian North, namely the extraction of mineral resources versus the economic activities of the native inhabitants54• Far smaller is the number of publications dealing with the question of the transfer of land,55 which, from my point of view, is important for a deeper understanding of such conflicts. In this chapter I shall explain how it actually happens that an area allotted to reindeer-herding enterprises is turned into an area to- be explored and exploited by the oil industry. I shall look at the legal and other political aspects of this procedure, its actual implementation and the actors 52 This chapter is based on a thoroughly revised and extended version of an article published earlier (Habeck 2002). 53 Privately used plots and gardens, etc. can be neglected in this study on rights to pastures in forest and tundra. 54 Publications include, among others: Aipin (1989); Vitebsky (1990); Ludviksen (1995); Dudeck (1996); Tuisku (1998); Okotetto and Forbes (1999); Wilson (2000) and Wilson (2002a). 55 Novikova (2000: 154); Osherenko (1995a); Osherenko (1995b: 1090-1092); in almost the same wording: Golovnev and Osherenko (1999, 122-125). Wilson (2000) and Murashko and Suliandziga (2000) deal mainly with offshore oil production near Kamchatka. 86 involved in it: the oil companies, the managers of reindeer-herding enterprises and the authorities that are to negotiate the shift in land tenure. For the reindeer herders themselves, the possibility of participating in this process is very restricted. Initiatives for attempting to secure their rights to land and resources come from the managers of the reindeer-herding enterprises and from external actors, but hardly from the actual reindeer herdets, although they are the persons most affected ( cf Sabev 2002: 25). What is more, the vast majority of Komi herders that I have met and lived with do not see negotiations about the land as their sphere of action. They leave negotiations to the management of the enterprise they are working in. As I indicated in the previous chapter (page 82), they prefer to focus their activities on personal contacts in the informal sphere. Such person-to-person interactions include those with oil workers in the tundra. So while at one level, there are negotiations between managers of reindeer-herding enterprises and white-collar workers from the oil companies about the land, at another level, there are negotiations between reindeer herders and oil workers on the land. After a short introduction to the Komi oil industry in section 5 .1, in sections 5 .2 and 5 .3 I examine the negotiations about the land in their formal as well as informal dimensions, whereas section 5.4, deals with personal interaction between herders and oil workers on the land. 5.1 Oil industry in the Bol'shezemel'skaia tundra Let me briefly describe the main characteristics of the oil industry in the region. The town of U sinsk is one of the hubs of this business in the north-east of European Russia, and as we have seen in section 3.3, the identity of Usinsk is unthinkable without oil production. Prospecting work in the Usa region had already started by 1960, ten years before the official foundation of U sinsk. Since then and until the mid- l 990s, there was a steady influx of Russian, Ukrainian and Tatar individuals and young families, finding work in the oil business, affiliated industries and local services. Oil exploration was going on in the whole of the B~l'shezemel'skaia Tundra: the derricks of the petroleum-prospecting parties (ekspeditsii) are scattered over the entire area between Usinsk and Vorkuta. However, prospecting work stopped in 1992- 1993 when these ekspeditsii ran into financial difficulties, and very few of the abandoned drilling sites are still guarded by their staff. Oil exploitation, i. e. oil production, has so far been confined to the western part of the Bol' shezemel' skaia Tundra. In general, the development of petroleum extraction 87 follows a number of geological structures (belts) in a northward direction, from the Komi Republic into the Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the shelf of the Barents Sea. Despite this north-bound tendency of oil production activities, there are still significant resources in the territory of the Republic of Komi that might be opened up in the near future (Lausala and Valkonen (eds.) 1999: figure 24). The first belt, which emerged over the period from 1960 to 1980, stretches from Usinsk to Khar' iaga and beyond (see figure 1). As it is the oldest zone of production, this belt bears the visible marks of an oil landscape, such as derricks, pipelines and the entire pertaining infrastructure. The pipeline that runs parallel to the River Kolva - the major artery of this industrial complex - has undergone considerable wear and tear, owing to its over-ground construction, the harsh climatic conditions and lack of maintenance. Pipeline leakages have been reported from several parts of Russia, above all from Western Siberia56, but the Usinsk oil spill in autumn 1994 became the best-known case, as environmental consciousness in Russia had been increasing-over the preceding ten years, and journalists were on the spot (Karjalainen and Habeck, submitted). It is stated that approximately 110,000 tonnes of oil seeped out and into the tributaries of the Pechora River57• To be sure, the pipeline from Khar'iaga to Usinsk had been leaking before and after the 1994 event; the latter, however, has stirred up sensitivities among all inhabitants and land users. Emotions had cooled down and the leaking pipeline by and large replaced, but the clean-up of the most heavily polluted areas was still underway when I made my first visit to Usinsk, Ust'-Usa and Novikbozh in October 1998. The former sovkhoz "Ust' -Usinskii" is one of the reindeer-herding enterprises most severely affected by the oil industry, but at the same time the one that has probably got the least benefits from it. Its western neighbour, "Severnyi", has succeeded better in making contact with the oil industry, although its central base, the village of Mutnyi Materik, is much more remote from the district centre and the oil companies' offices. The migration corridors delineated for the reindeer-herding brigades of "Ust'-Usinskii" and "Severnyi" cross the largest zone of oil production (figure 1 ). The herders frequently cross roads and pipelines with their herds, and are well aware of the associated difficulties and risks. 56 See, for example, Novikova (1995: 38). 57 Poklad (1995: 27); Vil'chek and Tishkov (1997: 41 4); Lukin, Dauval"ter and Novoselov (2000: 5); Lodewijkx and Hirsch (2000: 12). 88 5.2 Transfer of land, compensation and reclamation: the legal aspects Now our focus is on the question of how the negotiations about the land take place in legal terms. The process of turning a piece of land used for reindeer husbandry into one used for oil exploration and exploitation comprises three steps. The first is called "transfer of land for non-agricultural use". Land tenure is granted to the oil companies for a number of years only, but this period can be extended several times. The transfer involves compensation to be paid by the oil company. This compensation is considered the second step. The law requires that the parcels of land eventually be restored and returned to the agricultural users. Physical reclamation and legal restoration should be seen as the third step. The resolution regulating the entire procedure58 does not mention reindeer herding (which supposedly comes under agriculture in general), nor does it mention those individuals who actually work on the land, namely the reindeer herders, farmers and all other agricultural workers. Before the law, their interests are represented by the collective or company they are working for. At first glance, this may seem plausible, considering the absence of private land ownership. However, the reindeer-herding enterprise does not necessarily represent the interests of the reindeer herders. Step one, the actual transfer, is a complex act of bureaucracy. The company hoping to use a certain area submits an application to the district administration, which sends all the necessary materials to the agricultural enterprise in question, the village council, the local Committee for Land Formation, the local Committee for Environmental Protection and the forestry authorities. The applicant must submit documentation, stating the exact purpose of land use, detailed figures about all kinds of building projects, the planned period of use, and the plans for reclamation of the area after the end of that period. The agricultural enterprise, as well as the village council, has the right to refuse the application (an example will be giv~n below). If all organisations involved give their . agreement, the district administration approves the application and sends it to the respective organisations at the republican level, whose approval is also needed. The whole procedure takes several months, if not years. 58 Resolution N° 77 of the Council of Ministers (Government) of the Russian Federation, dated 28 February 1993 ("Postanovlenie Soveta Ministrov - Pravitel'stva Rossiiskoi Federatsii "Ob utverzhdenii Polo-zheniia o poriadke vozmeshcheniia ubytkov sobstvennikam zemli, zemlevladel'tsam, zemlepol'zova-teliam, arendatoram i poter' sel'skokhoziaistvennogo proizvodstva" ot 28 ianvaria 1993 g. N° 77") and is published in Sobranie aktov ... 1993 (6), 588-604. The resolution has also been adopted by the Council of Ministers of the Komi Republic ("Postanovlenie Soveta Ministrov Respubliki Komi ot 23 marta 1993 g. N° 159"). 89 For the time being, the applicant company obtains a preliminary document, g1vmg it priority to this area over other applicants, but not permitting it to actually use the area. Once the applicant receives the actual licence, the district administration maintains the right to check all conditions laid down in the licence: they may check whether the area is used for the proper purpose, whether reclamation is done in the proper way etc. 59 Step two is the payment of compensation money. Two different kinds of compensation must be paid. The first (ubytki) is to cover the expenses of reconstructing buildings and other infrastructure in a different place and also to redeem the "forgone income" from production. However, the "losses" (poteri) of agricultural production constitute the second element of the compensation. While the ubytki are to be paid to the agricultural enterprise, the poteri must be transferred to the local council, which may spend these monies in order to establish additional areas for agricultural use or to improve the existing ones. The representatives of the oil companies affirm that they do pay all these fees (at least 30,000 roubles per hectare for a period of 25 years), yet the reindeer herders complain that they do not see any of the compensation. It appears that the ubytki money is transferred not to the reindeer-herding enterprises directly, but to the district's account. It is used to cover the debts either of the district or those of the reindeer-herding enterprise, as both accounts are permanently in the red. The poteri money also ends up in the district's account. In the context of reindeer husbandry, it could be spent on repairing corrals, building new fences or erecting trade and supply posts for the herders in remote parts of the tundra. However, indications given by interviewees suggest that the district authorities use the monies for other, more general, purposes. Osherenko's remarks on compensation payments in the north-west of Siberia lead to a similar result: "As of April 1993, according to a law passed by the council of the Yamal-Nenets Okrug, 50 percent of the compensation for damage should be paid to the land user (the sovkhoz) and 50 percent to the raion government. In practice both the okrug and the sovkhoz spend the compensation money for the same purposes - to provide housing, supplies and other material support to the local (not just native) population" (Golovnev and Osherenko 1999: 124). Hence, it becomes evident why the herders feel they do not get any "direct" profit ( even more so as the compensation must not be used for paying arrears of salaries to the herders). The formal procedure does not ensure that the previous land user is duly compensated by the new land user. In addition, to repeat, the wording of the resolution does not refer to the reindeer herders themselves, but only to the enterprises employing them. 59 FM 122 (interview with Vladimir E. Strel'tsov and Sergei V. Golyshev, Committee for Land Formation, Usinsk, l March 1999). 90 Figure 21. Scrap in the tundra. The photograph shows the remnants of a petroleum- prospecting party (ekspeditsiia) . (Middle course of River Adz ' va, 11 September 1998) Plans for reclamation (step three) must be included in the initial project, otherwise it will not be accepted. After the period of tenure has ended, representatives of all the organisations mentioned above - but on the village and district level only - have to decide whether or not the reclamation has been done in the appropriate way. As the oil companies have sufficient money for reclamation, the results of such operations are generally deemed satisfactory by the Committee for Environmental Protection and the other institutions involved. However, circumstances are much worse in the central and eastern parts of the Bol' shezemel' skaia Tundra, where the exploration wells still need to be checked, maintained and cleaned by the ekspeditsii, but are often simply deserted. At those sites where reclamation has already taken place, it was often carried out quite hastily: the scrap, remaining chemicals and oil residues were dumped into a pit and covered with earth60• The fact that many of the sites are difficult to access is exacerbated by the dire financial situation of the ekspeditsii (Poklad 1995: 27). It is mainly ~or this reason that scrap and other remnants of prospecting activities are scattered over the Bol'shezem' skaia Tundra, as figure 21 illustrates. 60 FM 44 (interview with Aleksandr I. Kanev, mayor of Abez' (District oflnta), 2 September 1998). 91 5.3 Actors and their relations: the wider political aspects In short, the three actors in the official procedure of transfer, compensation and reclamation are the oil company, the agricultural (reindeer-herding) enterprise and the various levels of the administration. If we now look at the other political aspects of the procedure, more actors come into play and the interconnections become more intricate. Mutual agreements between land users, high-ranking officers' chats in the bania, environ- mentalists' campaigns61 and (in theory, at least) any protests by herders are not mentioned by the law, yet they can all be used as powerful tools when it comes to conflicts over land use. The representative of KomiArcticOil, a joint-venture company operating near Usinsk, affirmed that her company has adopted a much stricter environmental policy than would be required by the law. They have also sought to create a positive public image in the district and beyond by providing financial and technical support to the reindeer-herding enterprises and village councils. They have helped to build a new slaughterhouse, a school and a church in the villages pertaining to "Sevemyi" and "Ust'-Usinskii". When Komi- ArcticOil realised that the compensation money did not reach its final destination, the company tried to make an informal arrangement with "Sevemyi" and in 1998 it was agreed that the oil company would transfer 10,000 roubles directly to them. I was told, however, that it turned out to be impossible to transfer the sum from one account to the other; so instead, it was transferred to the district administration, as usual. From the discussion above, we see that the reindeer herders proper do not directly participate in the procedure of the transfer of land: all that they can do is express their opinions to the managers of the enterprise. In the best case, the executives ask the herders their views; in the worst case, the management may ignore them. The legal situati9n implies that the directors of reindeer-herding enterprises have considerable influence over decisions on land transfer. Ultimately, the agricultural enter- prises may exercise their right to veto the plans for industrial development. Yet when it comes to political power in general, their standing is much weaker. 61 Both regional and international environmental organisations hold stakes in the debate about land use in the Pechora basin. Members of the largest regional organisation, the Committee for the Salvation of the Pechora (Komitet spaseniia Pechory), were among the first to inform international environmental groups about the major oil spill in 1994 and its consequences for the Pechora and the people in the villages along this river. Greenpeace activists visited the oil spill sites near Usinsk in 1994-1995 and again in spring 2000. Their presence has certainly had an impact on the policies of the oil companies operating in this region. 92 Agricultural enterprises used to be the major employers in the rural areas of the Soviet Union and the word of a sovkhoz director had much more weight than the word of the local mayor. However, this authority has shrunk, as has the number of employees working in agricultural enterprises. In the era of market economy, collective farms and state farms in the north of Russia have fared particularly badly, and "Sevemyi" and "Ust' - Usinskii" are no exceptions to this rule. Nowadays, the village council is no longer dependent on the agricultural enterprise: rather, the latter is dependent on the goodwill and financial support of the administration of the district and the higher levels. Concerning all questions of land tenure, the reindeer-herding enterprises may seek political support from the Department of Agriculture in Usinsk and the Ministry of Agriculture in Syktyvkar, but the influence of these institutions is quite restricted as the agricultural sector has few proponents, in comparison with the mineral-resources and energy sector. The influence of the oil companies on the various tiers of the administration can hardly be over-estimated. After all, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Komi and the district of Usinsk obtain exceedingly large amounts of revenue from the petroleum industry. In addition, oil companies give direct support to the reindeer-herding enterprises. Little wonder then if the decision about the transfer of land is taken in favour of the oil company. However, the sovkhoz "Ust'-Usinskii", supported by the village council of Ust'- Usa62, made use of its right to veto in 1995 or 1996, when one of the prospecting organisations planned to pursue a geological survey in the area of the two Andriushkina rivers (figure 1)63 . This area comprises the only winter pastures in the immediate neighbourhood of the village, the others having disappeared under the industrial and residential areas of the town of Usinsk and the oil fields located to the north-west of it. This stretch of pastures is cut off from the others by the road and pipelines of the Usinsk- Khar'iaga belt of production, but several brigades of "Ust' -Usinskii" still migrate to the Andriushkina area, because they prefer to have their tents close to the village. Among them is brigadaN° 10 (cf page 32). One day in the not too distant future, the local oil companies might hand in a new application, having come to the conclusion that it is essential to expand their activities into the Andriushkina area, and two or three herding brigades will hardly prevent them from 62 The village council ofUst' -Usa was entitled to carry out a referendum, as envisaged by section 28 of the then valid Land Code "Zemel'nyi kodeks RSFSR". In: Kriazhkov (Comp.) 1994, 124. 93 doing so. The oil companies' spokespeople could easily argue that the livelihood of two or three dozen people must yield to the interests of millions of consumers. This argument may be countered in equally global terms: environmental protection, sustainable development and indigenous rights. The challenge, then, is to translate these principles into legal and other political concepts within a given case. To be sure, by diminishing the negative impacts of their operations, the · petroleum companies can contribute to a "cleaner" environment. Nevertheless, the issue of conflicting interests of land use remains. This leads to the question whether there are ways of guaranteeing rights to land for reindeer husbandry in the long run. I have discussed these possibilities elsewhere (Habeck 2002); they are beyond the scope of the present work, which focuses on the reindeer herders and their families. How do they respond to the presence of oil companies in the tundra? 5.4 Actors and their relations: how herdsmen and oil workers see each other While the herders keep complaining that they do not benefit at all from their pastures being exploited by the oil companies, which gain millions of dollars, personal relations between herdsmen and oil workers are fairly pragmatic. These relations represent what, at the beginning of this chapter, I have characterised as the negotiations on the land. Reindeer herders now share their workspace, the tundra and forest tundra, with people servicing the oil wells. Oil workers often work in shifts of two weeks. There are buses and helicopters bringing them from Usinsk to various bases, located in many parts of the tundra, in some cases hundreds of kilometres away from Usinsk64. From such bases, oil workers go by tank-like vehicles (vezdekhod) to the remoter oil wells. Thus, one day in late May 1999, when a certain Mr DANILOV and his colleague were travelling in a vezdekhod from an oil base near Khorei-Vor to a far-flung well in southeastern direction, · they almost bumped into brigada N° 9. They stopped their vehicle and DANILOV went out to have a chat with the herders. For some twenty minutes, DANILOV and V ASILII were talking to each other in the Komi language ab,out various issues. At some point, V ASILII complained to DANILOV that his company produces lots of oil and yet the oil 63 FM 76 (interview with Vasilii I. Khoziainov, representative of the reindeer-herding enterprise "Ust'- Usinskii", Ust' -Usa, 23 October 1998) and FM 99 (interview with Lidiia F. Khoziainova, mayor ofUst'- Usa, 6 November 1998). 64 In this respect, one may see a range of similarities in the work conditions of reindeer herders and oil workers, but nonetheless I would argue that their perception of their work and life in the tundra are quite different, as emerges from the last section of chapter 2. For a parallel case, the relation between reindeer herders and the military on Kola Peninsula, see Sabev (2002: 24). 94 workers are not willing or able to give the reindeer herders as little as just a barrel of fuel. DANILOV just shrugged his shoulders and said that this was not his personal problem: VASILII should talk to the oil company. The fact that this talk was conducted in Komi exemplifies that oil companies employ not only Russians, Ukrainians, Tatars, etc., but . also a number of Komi (amongst them some employees in high-ranking positions). Thus, one cannot make a clear-cut ethnic distinction between 'newcomers' (supposedly working as oil workers) and 'locals' (supposedly working in so-called traditional occupations). There are cases - very few though - of people who have occupational experience in both spheres: reindeer husbandry and the oil industry65 • To be sure, some local Komi inhabitants do discuss the issue ofland use and disproportionate incomes along ethnic lines. TRET'IAKOV's comment "Our land, and yet we have to ask for permission" (page 54) was not the only one of this kind that I heard during my visits to Ust'-Usa. Older people in the villages around Usinsk remember clearly how life used to be before the city existed. They feel that while the town has flourished, the villages have undergone a process of degradation. As one woman in LYZHASA ANDREI's village put it: "There is gas and oil nearby, and yet we have to use firewood for heating (Riadom gaz i neft', a my topim drovami)"66 • What is true for the rural inhabitants in general is also the case for the reindeer herders. Most of them personally know some oil workers. The personal relations are not hostile, but usually relaxed and sometimes very friendly. As one tent-worker said: "We do our work, and they do their work". While I stayed with brigada N° 10 in November 1998, more than once we went to an abandoned oil-drilling site, disassembled the wooden cabins of the oil workers and used the wooden boards as fuel (figure 22; cf page 32). The herders told me that they did this with the permission of the oil company's watchman. He and his wife lived in a cabin some kilometres further and they appeared to have a good relationship with the reindeer herders. On the other hand, there are apprehensions and prejudices on both sides, which usually express themselves in a teasing manner. This becamt: most apparent to me when LYZHASA ANDREI, TER' MISH ANDREI and I visited an oil workers' base at the River 65 Personally, I know a man who used to work for KomiArcticOil and, after his discharge there, for "Ust'- Usinskii"; I met him at Kolva-Ty where he participated in the slaughter ofreindeer (page 107). One of the leading political figures in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Aleksandr Ivanovich Vyucheiskii, was born into a reindeer-herding family and made a career in the oil industry, reaching the of manager of the Khorei-Vor Expedition for Oil and Gas Exploration (Korepanova (ed.) 2001: 91). In the epilogue, there will be one more example. 66 Personal communication with a general practitioner in Ust'-Lyzha, Usinsk District, 8 February 2002. 95 Sandivei, some three or four kilometres away from the camp, on the evening of 28 April 1999. I could not help feeling that it was an act of subtle subversion when the three of us, all in reindeer-fur clothes, arrived on our reindeer sledges in a place dominated by the rhythmic ramming of a pile-driver, with oil stains and rusty steel cables that have seemingly proliferated all across the concrete platform of the base, while some of the workers present turned around in amazement as we parked our reindeer. In fact, an oil workers' base is not the most suitable terrain for reindeer, as they may injure their hooves. In addition, we had to watch carefully and find our way through patches of old oil, so as not to spoil our boots. The actual reason for travelling to the oil workers' base was TER' MISH ANDREI's urge to place a phone call to his girl-friend in Ust'-Usa. After the phone call, LYZHASA ANDREI wanted to pop into the portable cabin of a foreman called V OLODIA, whom he knew from a previous visit. We could have chosen a better moment for our visit. VOLODIA was busy with seeing off a party of oil workers finishing their shift and waiting for the helicopter to bring them back to Usinsk. At some point, though, he turned them all out and told us to stay for tea. He did put on the kettle, but then it was up to us to clean the cups, to prepare the tea and to refill the sugar pot. No nibbles provided - just tea. Judging from the perspective of a reindeer herder, this kind of hospitality came close to an offence. But then, V OLODIA thought that the three of us were much younger than he was, so why Figure 22. Abandoned oil drilling site in the tundra. Reindeer-herding brigade N° 10 stopped there on their migration southward in order to collect additional firewood . (Near River Osovei, 15 November 1998) 96 ~~------ -------------- Sandivei, some three or four kilometres away from the camp, on the evening of 28 April 1999. I could not help feeling that it was an act of subtle subversion when the three of us, all in reindeer-fur clothes, arrived on our reindeer sledges in a place dominated by the rhythmic ramming of a pile-driver, with oil . stains and rusty steel cables that have seemingly proliferated all across the concrete platform of the base, while some of the workers present turned around in amazement as we parked our reindeer. In fact, an oil workers' base is not the most suitable terrain for reindeer, as they may injure their hooves. In addition, we had to watch carefully and find our way through patches of old oil, so as not to spoil our boots. The actual reason for travelling to the oil workers' base was TER' MISH ANDREI'S urge to place a phone call to his girl-friend in Ust'-Usa. After the phone call, LYZHASA ANDREI wanted to pop into the portable cabin of a foreman called VOLODIA, whom he knew from a previous visit. We could have chosen a better moment for our visit. V OLODIA was busy with seeing off a party of oil workers finishing their shift and waiting for the helicopter to bring them back to U sinsk. At some point, though, he turned them all out and told us to stay for tea. He did put on the kettle, but then it was up to us to clean the cups, to prepare the tea and to refill the sugar pot. No nibbles provided - just tea. Judging from the perspective of a reindeer herder, this kind of hospitality came close to an offence. But then, VOLODIA thought that the three of us were much younger than he was, so why Figure 22. Abandoned oil drilling site in the tundra. Reindeer-herding brigade N° 10 stopped there on their migration southward in order to collect additional firewood. (Near River Osovei , 15 November 1998) 96 could he be bothered. He may have felt that if he were too generous, we might ask for more (cigarettes or alcohol, for example). Obviously, TER' MISH ANDREI did not feel very comfortable, for he stayed in the cabin's porch and engaged in some kind of shy day- dreaming. While I kept my mouth shut and successfully tried to remain an incognito herdsman, L YZHASA ANDREI led the conversation with Vo LO DIA. They spoke about the tundra (the common element of their work) and life in the camp as compared to life on the base. It was on this occasion that L YZHASA ANDREI scoffed at V OLODIA' s "black business (chernaia rabota)". Actually, VOLODIA knew quite a lot about reindeer-herding affairs and inquired about our business. VOLODIA. I know you, Andrei, but I don't yet know the two others. L YZHASA ANDREI. They are people from other brigades. V OLODIA. And where are you migrating to now? (Kuda vy dvigaetes' seichas?) L YZHASA ANDREI. We are everywhere (My vezde ). V OLODIA kept trying to find out our migration route but L YZHASA ANDREI did not give him any detailed information. Without interfering, I asked myself why this information should be concealed67• On the way back to our camp, I had a talk with L YZHASA ANDREI: OTTO. Volodia could have been more hospitable, I mean, the tea . .. LYZHASA ANDREI. Now you see what kind of people they are. OTTO. But why did you say: we are everywhere? Why didn't you tell him we are moving to Kolva-Ty? LYZHASA ANDREI. Why should it be of interest for Volodia at all? He does not know all those places, anyway. After the event, I wondered whether Vo LO DIA had an arriere pensee or whether L YZHASA ANDREI thought that he might have one (but did not come to any conclusion on this). In general, though, the dialogues show that LYZHASA ANDREI (as well as other reindeer herders) thinks that the oil workers do not really respect the life-style of the reindeer people and, moreover, ·that they are not capable of respecting it because they simply cannot understand it. But if L YZHASA ANDREI creates the notion of the reindeer herders being wanderers roaming freely through the tundra, does not he himself contribute to the emergence of ill- informed stereotypes? It might be interpreted this way. However, the young herdsman's statement may also lay claim to a particular kind of power. The implication is not only that 67 With regard to the concealing ofmy own identity, I want to justify this by my desire to have an "authentic" encounter of reindeer herders and oil workers without the interference of a foreigner. 97 reindeer herders have control of the space (as they are "everywhere") but also that the oil workers should not even think they could understand the movements of the herders. The authority exposed here derives its power from the reindeer herders' thorough knowledge of the land and their ability to live on it ( even without the technical equipment that the oil workers need for survival). While reindeer herders and tent workers have become used to sharing the tundra with oil workers, they nonetheless retain their extensive agency in this space. The same may be said about the relation between reindeer herders and tent workers (the brigada people) on one hand, and the managers and office workers (the kontora people) on the other hand. The latter cannot survive in the tundra without the former. In fact, the kontora depends on the product of the brigada in every respect. However, the following chapter shows that the dependence is not one-sided: both groups are entangled in complex relations and trans- actions of formal and informal character. 98 Chapter 6 Meat and markets In this chapter, I shall try to explain the guts of sovkhoz economy. I shall do so in order to assess the herders' position in the enterprises' hierarchy, and the scope and limits of their activities within and outside the enterprise. To this end, I first have to describe and analyse a variety of classifications, categories, factors and processes, such as various modes of slaughtering a reindeer, pasture allotments, antlers and helicopter prices. Although on first sight, they may look like a motley combination of very different topics, they all are variables that characterise the complex relationship between herders and white-collar workers within the reindeer-herding enterprise. The domains we are dealing with here are the herders and tent workers (the brigada) on one hand, and the managers (the kontora) on the other. Earlier I have stated that people in these two domains work out of sight of each other for comparatively long periods, and that the relations between brigada and kontora are exposed by certain seasonal key events, one of which is slaughter. Meat is the key resource in these negotiations, and the distribution of meat pertains to both the official and the informal sphere. However, an additional key resource in the brigada-kontora relation is velvet antlers (panty), the circulation of which is restricted to the informal sphere. By the end of this chapter, it will have become clear that reindeer herders, tent workers and their families may judge things very differently from the management of the enterprise. However, by the same token I will argue that in most enterprises the two groups have one common interest: to stay in the former state farm and use it as a platform for their private economic activities68 • In this relation of symbiosis and interdependence, the actual winners are a small number of individuals who have control over transactions and tradin~ networks. The main argument of this chapter, the former state farm as the formal framework for informal activities, will be linked to the analysis of reindeer herders' agency in the final section. 68 While this strategy is certainly typical for the enterprises in the Komi Republic and the governmental policy of privatisation has by and large failed, the situation in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug is more diverse and calls for consideration in this context. Appendix 10 deals with this question. 99 6.1 Explaining sovkhoz statistics: classifications of reindeer A reindeer is not simply a reindeer - it can mean very different things for different people. For the herders as well as the other sovkhoz workers (the reindeer-herding enterprise), each animal has a set of attributes. Four attributes (age, sex, function, ownership) define a deer from the point of view of the sovkhoz, and some more from the herders' perspective. In this section, I shall present these attributes of domesticated reindeer. Without knowing these properties it is hard to understand any of the reindeer herders' and sovkhoz managers' strategies and decisions. The first two attributes are biological ones: the sex and the age of a reindeer. Together with the third attribute, the function or the purpose of the animal, we obtain the basic classification as it is used in reindeer husbandry in Russia in general. This classification is rendered in table 6.1 below. The table contains the various categories in English explanation, the terms for them as commonly in use in the local (Komi and Nenets) statistics, and the percentage of each category according to the recommendations of agricultural experts. In December, the "ideal" herd should be composed thus: Table 1: Classification of reindeer for statistical purposes and recommended herd composition Categories (by sex, age group Local term used in statistics Recommended herd composition and function) (plural form) (in per cent) Females, over 3 years old Vazhenki 49 · Females, 2Yz years old Syritsy (also known as neteli) 11 Females, 1 Yz years old Nialuku-vazhenki 5 Female calves, Yz year old Teliata-vazhenki 14 Males, "bucks" (for breeding) Khory I proizvoditeli 2 Males, "oxen" (for transport) Byki I ezdovye 9 Males, 2Yz years old Niamniuku (Sllh;um;d under"oxen'' aoo ''bucks'1 Males, 1 Yz years old Nialuku-khory 3 Male calves, Yz year old Teliata-khory 7 (Compiled on the basis of various archival materials) What is remarkable here is the proportion between female animals (four-fifths) and male animals (one-fifth) within the herd. The herd composition as suggested above is clearly oriented towards production and reproduction: a high number of adult female deer promises a high yield of calves, meat and other produce. Adjusting the herd composition and size is mainly done by slaughter69• Twice a year each sovkhoz makes an inventory of all its herds: first a preliminary one in the so-called spring corral (vesennii koral '), after the 69 The number of bucks (male animals for breeding) is kept low through castration and integrating them into the herd of oxen (see pp. 18 and 24) and castration in May or August, and by slaughter. 100 calving period has come to an end (cf pp. 23-24), and secondly the inventory in November/ December, in connection with the main slaughter of the year in the so-called autumn corral ( osennii koral '). An example of the spreadsheet used for counting the animals and determining production figures is shown in appendix 6. One of the indicators of productivity (proizvodstvennye pokazateli) that gains most attention among the sovkhoz managers is the percentage of adult females within the herd. During a meeting with herdsmen and sovkhoz officials (19 March 1999, FM 128), the responsible representative of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Komi Republic, BEZUMOV, reported that "scientific recommendations" suggest at least 60% of adult females ( vazhenki and syritsy). He stated that most enterprises in the Komi Republic are below this mark (54% on average) and "Ust'-Usinskii" had the lowest figure of them all (51 %). In his words, it is important to keep the number of oxen low because they reduce the productivity of the herd. However, at this point BEZUMOV was interrupted by the objections of some members of the audience, who strongly felt that they could assess the practice of reindeer herding better than any official from outside. Every herder knows the importance the oxen ( castrated males) for life and work in the tundra: without a sufficient number of draught animals, the brigade is immobilised and can no longer fulfil their job of herding. The proportion of draught animals within the herd has been increasing over the 1990s, because the enterprises had to reduce the number of helicopter flights between the village and the camp. With regard to the herd structure, the herders and their bosses have to find a compromise between the two functions: meat production versus transportation. If for the Ministry of Agriculture and the executives of the reindeer-herding enterprises the tundra is first and foremost a vast "open-air factory floor" for meat production (Vitebsky 1992: 242), for the herders and their family members it is something more than that - an environment wherein they spend a good deal of the year, moving around with their reindeer-hauled sledges. The "function" of a reindeer is a less well-defined attribute than its age or sex (even if it is the justification of its existence, from the human point ~f view). A small number of animals fulfil specific roles and are consequently labelled with specific terms. Avko, for example, is the term for a very tame deer (usually an ox), which is well acquainted with human beings and comes close to the tent in search of human urine, so the herders can attract and harness them if for some reason no other draught animals are available. To give 101 another illustration, the term menurei applies to a very heavy ox that may be led in front of the herd in order to crush the crusty snow70 • . Among the most decisive attributes is ownership. In the previous chapters, I have avoided mentioning this rather complex issue because I wanted to keep the first description simple. In fact, basically all brigades in the Ko.mi Republic have herds that comprise animals of both collective and private ownership. The reindeer-herding enterprises of the Komi Republic used to be state farms (sovkhoz) from the 1960s to the 1990s, some of them even until 1 January 2000. Ultimately, the reindeer were the property of the state. Private property was not entirely excluded but strictly regulated. Members of reindeer-herding families were permitted a certain number of their own animals. Owing to regional variations, the limitation of private reindeer is a complex issue in itself. With the introduction of privatisation in 1991-2, these regulations were either abandoned or slackened: they now vary between 50 and 150 deer officially, and some enterprises do not limit the number of private deer at all. The reindeer-herding enterprises still possess their non-private animals, which in the statistics appear as "public head [ of deer]" ( obshchestvennoe pogolov 'e) in contrast to "private head [ of deer]" ( chastnoe pogolov 'e ). Over the last ten years, the percentage of "public" ( or collective) reindeer has steadily decreased in favour of private reindeer, since the ownership of private deer translates directly into material wealth for every reindeer- herding family. While in the mid-1980s, the relation was approximately 90 to 10, it is now 75 to 25, in some enterprises 60 to 40, and in a couple of herds the private deer outnumber the collective deer. Of course, the actual number of private deer in the possession of a single herder does not necessarily correspond with the limits established by the enterprise for which he works. Herdsmen with 300 or more private reindeer can be met with in almost every community, and one herder is said to own 1 OOO or more animals. One can tell the ownership of a reindeer by its earmarks (pel' pas, kleimo). Private animals wear the earmark of their owner, collective animals are distinguished by the earmark of the brigade's herd. The salience of ownership for ~rigada and kontora people comes to the fore most visibly in the main annual inventory, i.e. in the autumn corral (page 27). The count is carried out by a sovkhoz worker holding a wooden board and making pencil marks while the head of the brigade is standing at the gate and declaring the reindeer 70 The herders know basically all the animals in their herd and can distinguish them from some distance by their appearance. Therefore, the fur colour of a reindeer constitutes an important criterion for the herders, while is not important for the people working in the slaughterhouse. 102 Figure 23. Counting the deer in the corral. The two people at the gate are the bri- gadier (left) and an office worker (right). The brigadier identifies the animal as it runs through the gate: the office worker registers it on a wooden board. (Kolva-Ty, 24 November 1998) as they pass by: "Vazhenka!" (doe [of the collective herd]), "Menam vazhenka!" (my [own] doe), "Izhma Fed'lon bykys!" (an ox of lzHMA FED'), and so forth. This procedure is shown in figure 23. A closer look at the board unveils some unexpected complexity in the property relations of the herd. Figure 24 depicts the 1998 inventory of brigade N° 10 of "U st' - Usinskii". The rows of the table correspond to the classification by age group, sex and function as in the table at the beginning of this section. Thus, the first row has the title Figure 24. Table for counting reindeer. (Kolva-Ty, 24 November 1998) 103 vazhenka. The columns refer mainly to ownership. There is a wide column for stado N° 10, used for counting this brigade's collective deer. The following column is titled brak (literally, "waste" or "defective produce"). This factory-flavoured term is used to denote animals that have to pass through the other gate, which leads straight to the slaughterhouse. What is called "defective produce" must actually be interpreted as the produce proper: the meat of the animals to be slaughtered is the enterprise's main capital. The following columns correspond to the owners of private reindeer. Each person's name is abbreviated by three letters (family name, patronymic, given name)71• Apart from the names of the five adult herders who, at that time, worked in the brigade (ZHENIA, STEPAN, VITALII, STEPAN, IZHMA FED') there were some more: ZHENIA's late grandfather Mitrofan, OsH VAS' (the chief executive for reindeer husbandry of "Ust' -Usinskii") and the names of two pensioners 72. When Mitrofan died, the reindeer that he left should have become the official property of his sons, among them V ASILII (head of N° 9) and Aleksei, ZHENIA's father. However, Mitrofan's heirs could not decide who should get how many deer. Aleksei, who died some months before his father, is not mentioned on the board. His reindeer were passed on to his son. I was told OsH VAS', who is not associated to any brigade, has his private animals in several of them. The pensioners are relatives who used to work in N° 10. It turns out that reindeer are owned not only by those who work in the brigada, but also by people who used to work there, and by some other individuals that are relatives of reindeer herders and tent workers. OsH VAS', as well as mosf other kontora people, has familial ties with reindeer-herding families73 • In chapter 7 (page 133), I shall argue with Istomin (2000) that the reindeer herders' tent as a social space consists of more people than just those on the payroll of the sovkhoz. In addition to the question of who can own reindeer, there I shall also discuss the question of who may work as a herder or tent- worker. On the wooden board, there are no columns with a female name. To the best of my knowledge, women (tent workers) usually do not use their own earmarks. It appears that when a woman needs sledge animals, her husband chooses for her from among his 71 The same abbreviations are used on luggage labels, see annotation 14. 72 The last two or three columns on the wooden board are reserved for those deer that belong to other brigades. These animals are first led into a separate chamber of the corral and later taken back to their respective herds. 73 The fact that OSH VAS' has his animals in several brigade's herds indicates how well connected he is to the various reindeer-herding families . Nonetheless, the herders and tent workers perceive him as a member of the kontora and show a kind of awe when he enters their tent. See below, page 121. 104 animals. However, a woman can inherit or bequeath reindeer74• One day, ZHENIA's mother YELENA told me that she has a few reindeer in the herds of the neighbouring sovkhoz "Sevemyi": "Reindeer live in the tundra after all, and sometimes they get mixed up" (FM 106). Later I learnt that she attends the autumn corral at "Sevemyi". Her animals are under the auspices of a "Sevemyi" herder who occasionally stays at her house on his way from his native village to town, and also lived for a fortnight with both brigada N° 9 and brigada N° 10 when he did not get along very well with the other people in his own "Sevemyi" brigade. I am recounting this as an example of the complexity of social ties and ownership issues, which do not show up in the sovkhoz statistics but nonetheless are part and parcel of reindeer herders' livelihood. What we should keep in mind is that brigada and kontora people may have diverse points of view about practices in reindeer herding, but also that for both groups, the ownership of private animals is highly important, albeit not evident in the official statistics of the sovkhoz. 6.2 Slaughter and marketing It has already become clear that the issue of ownership is closely connected with the annual inventory and slaughter in autumn. Here I shall focus on the procedure of slaughtering and the subsequent marketing. This section will demonstrate that the marketing of private reindeer meat is done in different ways. Such arrangements give some clues about how herders and managers are dependent on each other. In late November and early December all the herds are reduced by up to one third. The selection among the collective animals is done by the brigadier. Those animals not counted as brak (and consequently slaughtered) are led into the so-called last chamber, where they are collected_ before the whole herd may leave the corral and roam around again on the pastures. The last chamber, though, is not necessarily a safe haven ~or the reindeer: the herders occasionally select a small number of deer and slaughter them right on the spot. Why do they not slaughter these animals in the slaughterhouse? The slaughterhouse comes under the sphere of the reindeer-herding enterprise, but the slaughter in the corral' s last chamber does not. As long as the herders are in, or close to, the corral, collective deer will always be 74 The number of private reindeer is registered in the pokhoziaistvennye knigi, which I would describe as a combination of census, tax and registry office lists. These books are kept in each village council. 105 Figure 25. Slaughter in the corral. Two herders of brigade N° 10 of "Ust' -Usinskii" are skinning and disembowelling selected reindeer in the last chamber of the corral. (Kolva-Ty, 24 November 1998) slaughtered in the slaughterhouse. The question of whether or not private deer may be slaughtered in the slaughterhouse depends on convention in the respective enterprise. I took part in the slaughter in two different enterprises and in the following section I will compare these two enterprises in order to show variations in arrangements for the slaughter and marketing of meat of both private and collective deer. In the first case, "Bol' shaia Inta" in the town of Inta, there is a strict separation between slaughtering collective deer and slaughtering private deer; the latter are killed by specific workers, not on the premises of the corral but on a lake just outside the fence. In the second case, "Ust' - Usinskii", some private deer are slaughtered in the slaughterhouse (together with the collective deer) while other private deer are slaughtered by the herders in the last chamber of the corral. Thus, while there is a difference between the slaughtering of collective and private deer, there is an additional difference between two modes of slaughtering: slaughter as it is done by herders, and slaughter as it is done in the slaughterhouse. These two modes can be distinguished by the technique of killing and disembowelling, the people who do the slaughter, and the ways whereby the produce is marketed. I shall first speak about the slaughter as it is done by a herdsman. Never do the herders work in the slaughterhouse - they only slaughter outside. The herdsman usually kills the deer by stabbing it into the neck. After he has removed the skin and the lower legs, he opens the carcass and takes out the inner organs (heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, stomachs and bowels). The carcass lies on its 106 back and while all the inner organs are removed, blood flows into the hollow between the ribs. This kind of slaughter includes a feast called aibarch: the herders and other members of the tent community take their knives, cut off little chunks or strips of the raw - but still warm - meat and dip them into the salted blood in the middle of the carcass. Chunks of the heart, liver and kidneys are considered the most delicious bits. When I was in the corral with brigada N° 10, the aibarch took place right there where the slaughter was going on, in the last chamber of the corral (figure 25). Only the closest friends partook of this meal. Employees of the reindeer-herding enterprise who are not directly involved in herding did not participate. (The institution of aibarch refers to the existence of social ties that transcend the organisational framework of the sovkhoz and its brigades). Once the aibarch is over, the slaughtering procedure continues in the following way: the carcass is cut into pieces; the meat is hung up for deep-freezing and later stored in big sacks. Each side of the tent receives half of the slaughtered reindeer; the head and the spine go alternately to the left and right half. This meat is used for consumption within the extended family or barter with neighbours and other people (see next chapter). The hide is used for various purposes, most frequently for sewing the professional clothes that the reindeer people need in the tundra, or for the outer cover of the tent. Leg furs are needed for sewing fur boots. All parts of the reindeer are processed; even the hooves are kept for making meat jelly. More than once, I was struck by the contrast between the herders' and tent workers' careful attitude towards the deer that they slaughter themselves and their lack of interest and involvement in those deer that are slaughtered in the slaughterhouse. Such occurrences imply that the herders see the herding of collective deer only as an extra job, while their prime concern is the herding of their private animals. The other mode of slaughter, the one in the slaughterhouse, is done by non-herding . staff of the reindeer-herding enterprise 75 • The deer are not stabbed but clubbed, usually a score of them in one go. Then the workers cut the throats of the unconscious animals, remove the hide, the lower legs and the head of the animal. The inner organs are taken out, rinsed and collected in various vessels. The stomachs and bowels are thrown away, and one can find large heaps of guts out in: the snow behind the slaughterhouse and occasionally the herders' dogs attracted by this abundance of food (in Inta, the guts are collected and sent to the local chicken farm). The heads are kept, their meat being used as 75 As this is a highly seasonal activity - approximately one month per year - the reindeer-herding enterprise has to hire additional work force, for example coal miners (in the case oflnta) or other townspeople. 107 l dog food, part of the antlers for souvemrs and the fur of the forehead for fur boot production. Piles of reindeer heads and bundles of tongues testify to that industrial drive in reindeer husbandry that Kertselli and others were thinking of some 80 years ago ( cf section 4.3.2). In the slaughterhouse, the carcass is not cut into pieces: it is weighed and then hung up in a large storage room. Once it is frozen, it can be transported to town by helicopter, lorry or whatever method is best. The slaughterhouse and corral of "Ust' -Usinskii" are in Kolva-Ty, 180 kilometres away from Ust'-Usa and Usinsk, as the crow and the helicopter fly. There is no road to Kolva-Ty. Tonnes of meat are sent south by helicopter. Additional tonnes of meat are hauled by caterpillar transport to the nearest road 80 kilometres away, then reloaded onto lorries and taken to Ust'-Usa or Usinsk. In late November 1998, "Ust'- Usinskii" was lucky enough to receive unexpected help from a team of seismologists: they agreed to transport 5 tonnes of meat to the road. The oil base at Lake Saliuku and the end of the road serves as a staging post for over-land transport. The reindeer-herding enterprise's drivers stay and eat with the oil workers, who in turn receive some reindeer carcasses. Here we see another example for the observation in chapter 5 that the oil industry is not just a threat to reindeer husbandry - at times, it may be seen as a resource or an opportunity. Barter and other forms of cashless economy are the enterprises' most convenient way of transferring their produce. Barter helps to reduce taxes. If a company does not get much money, and is anyway in the red, then it will pay lower taxes (FM 32)76• Barter relations can be reasonably stable. A well-developed network of personal relations is essential for successful trading 77• The management of "Ust' -Usinskii" draw up contracts with various companies in U sinsk and the neighbouring town of Pechora on a yearly basis. On the grounds of additional transportation costs, selling the meat further afield is beyond hope, the director told me. Transportation, too, is paid in reindeer. In 1998, the Pechora Branch of KomilnterAvia received one helicopter load of reindeer (approximately 2,500 kilo- grams) for transporting three helicopter loads of reindeer from Kolva-Ty to Usinsk78 • Consequently, it would seem that for the managers of "Ust' -Usinskii", transportation 76 On collective farm taxation during the late 1960s cf Humphrey (1998: 89, 100). In those days, collective farms could avoid paying annual taxes by bringing certain productivity figures below 15%. 77 Cf Seabright (2000) and Humphrey (2000). Lampland (2002) discusses similar observations in post-socialist Hungary. 78 The official cost per hour for helicopter flights in this region was 7,200 roubles in July 1998, 8,400 roubles in July 1999 and 9,600 roubles in July 2000 (personal communication with V. I. Ponomarev, Syktyvkar, Institute of Biology, Komi Science Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences, August 2000). 108 expenses must pose the biggest problem and the most decisive item in the enterprise's budget. The enterprise "Bol' shaia Inta", which I discuss here for comparison, has much lower transport expenses. The autumn corral is located in the tundra, roughly at the same latitude as Kolva-Ty, but the slaughter is done close to the town of Inta. The animals selected for slaughter are driven in one or two herds to the slaughterhouse 150 kilometres further south. By the time the deer reach the slaughterhouse, they have lost some of their fat, but the management need not worry about further transport to the consumers: it is the consumers who come to them. Wholesale as well as retail transactions are carried out on the premises; it just takes the buyer a twenty-minute ride by car or lorry from the town centre. As mentioned before, in "Bol'shaia Inta" the private reindeer are slaughtered entirely separately from the collective ones. Yet, they are not slaughtered by the herders. The owners sell them on the spot to a small team of independent slaughterers. The boss of this team is a Komi whose main place of work is the district's fishery inspection. The team has its own slaughter-stand and steelyard. He pays the members of his team (mostly coal miners) by meat, and the owners of the reindeer in money. The meat is sold to the buyers for cash (FM 110). It is most likely that he has a highly profitable business. Again, the herders themselves do not manage and control the marketing of the meat,. although the whole marketing procedure is quite transparent to them. We shall now return to examining the procedure as it is done in "Ust' -Usinskii", Figure 26. Slaughter in the slaughterhouse. The picture shows the weighbridge where short-term workers weigh the reindeer carcasses before carrying them into the storage room (Kolva-Ty, 11 November 1998) 109 where reindeer herders' private transactions are organised in a more restrictive way. Most of the private reindeer to be slaughtered end up with the collective ones in the slaughterhouse. More than that, the private meat is not weighed separately, but together with the enterprises' meat. The people who stand at the weighbridge (figure 26) explain this by saying that the weight of a deer does not depend on whether it was a private one or a sovkhoz one; it is enough to determine the average weight. Payment from the enterprise to the owner is also based on this. The organisers of this private meat marketing are two Russians and two Komi: OLEG, SHARIKOV, TRET'IAKOV and perhaps 0SH VAS'. All of them have been introduced to the reader in chapter 3. They all have medium- or high-level posts in the enterprise "Ust'-Usinskii", except OLEG, who now works as the head of the district's veterinary authorities. Owing to this function, he has also gained some degree of control over the meat market in the whole district (with the two enterprises "Ust'-Usinskii" and "Sevemyi"). In my understanding, he plays the key role in the logistics and marketing of private meat. He makes sure he attends the arrival of meat deliveries in Usinsk and people phone him in order to get to know whether the meat has arrived79• OLEG told me one evening in the bania that he and some other people buy deer from the herders and sell the meat at "a slightly higher price". It remained unclear to me, though, whom the meat is sold to and what the herders get out of these deals. There is, of course, a certain piquancy in the fact that the private meat market as well as the sovkhoz statistics are under the control of only a few people, including an uncle and his nephew. However, this seemingly causes little concern to the other executive workers of the enterprise "Ust'-Usinskii". The herders and tent workers feel more concerned (they complain about OLEG's buying a new car and rifle)80. On the other hand, they actively take part in these private transactions. For them too, one may argue, there must be some revenue from these de;;1ls. In fact, income from private reindeer is quite substantial (see page 139). The four individuals mentioned above control most of, the "Ust'-Usinskii" private meat business, but they cannot control it entirely: reindeer herders have their deals with the helicopter pilots, too. This explains the occasionally shady character of activities in the last chamber of the corral: some of the reindeer slaughtered in the last corral are hauled to the 79 OLEG provides a striking example of the concept of "information islands" introduced by Seabright (2000). 110 outer fence clandestinely and quickly given to the helicopter pilots. Although I did not witness the moment of payment, I am sure that such meat is exchanged for vodka. 0SH VAS', the boss of all reindeer herders and tent workers in the enterprise, is fully aware that there is a lot of drinking going on while the herders work in the corral, yet it is his function to intervene and apply sanctions against he.rders caught in the act. Therefore, the transaction with the pilots must be done quickly and inconspicuously81 • To sum up the various methods of slaughtering and the ways of marketing the meat of private reindeer, the reasons for the differences between "Ust'-Usinskii" and "Bol'shaia Inta" are clearer now. The location and accessibility of the slaughter points influence the arrangements within the reindeer-herding enterprises. In the case of "Bol'shaia Inta", the private meat market is independent from the enterprise's marketing strategies; in the case of "Ust'-Usinskii", a group of executive staff controls the private meat market. In both cases, the reindeer herders do not negotiate directly with the consumers: they even seem indifferent to the ways of how the meat is marketed. In the following sections and in chapter 7, I shall show that nonetheless, the herders and the members of their families are well aware not only of trade opportunities but also of their economic relation to the enterprise they are working for, and of ways of benefiting from it. 6.3 Attempts at restructuring slaughter and marketing For the last decades, meat has been the prime product of reindeer husbandry in the Russian North. Reindeer-herding enterprises are confronted with the problem that this product is available only for a short period, namely in late autumn and early winter every year. Russian and other experts have pointed out various possibilities to overcome the seasonality of the output, the main one being the improvement of refrigerator and storage facilities. The managers of the reindeer-herding enterprises, supported by officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, often say that if they could manage to sell and display frozen meat throughout the year they could hope for more stable profi~s. This would also call for improved technology and a network of refrigerator carriages and lorries and, on the whole, for reliable all-year roads or railways between the slaughterhouses, processing factories and consumers. Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture consider the creation of 80 Most of the herders do not like OLEG very much. He says the reason for this is that they do not like it if somebody shows entrepreneurial initiative; apart from that, their complaints are based on wrong assumptions. 111 processing industries, diversification of the range of meat products (sausages, smoked meat etc.) and improvements in the packaging and presentation of the produce as further elements of such development strategies. For a number of years, the managers and agricultural authorities have aspired to construct slaughterhouses that comply with the hygienic and other requirements of the European Union. They expect that if the slaughter technology improves, it will be easier to raise the prestige of reindeer meat in the northern towns and in big cities such as Moscow and St Petersburg. They also hope that it would become possible to export reindeer meat to the countries of the European Union. "Frankly speaking, we suggest that reindeer meat, which has high gustatory and dietary qualities, should not go into cheap canteens, it must be included in the menus of the best sana- toriums and restaurants of Russia and other countries, and of course be paid for in accordance with its [qualitative] properties." (Krug, Bezumov and Pasynkov 1997: 5) Additionally, the reindeer-herding enterprises might aim at generally diversifying their output. The trade in velvet antlers (panty) was, and still is seen as, an essential element in such diversification strategies, and I shall discuss this specific question separately (see section 6.4). Finally, the hide trade might regain some of its previous importance, if the quality of the hides could be improved. To this end, the enterprises must apply more accurate strategies of vaccinating the reindeer against gadflies (which, again, is mainly a question of funding). More importantly, the animals should be slaughtered, not in November or December, but in September, as used to be the case at the beginning of the 20th century, when not meat but hides were the main product. However, the. meat output in September is less than in November, because the deer have not yet reached their maximum weight. All these measures have been written about repeatedly, with regard to both the Komi Republic and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug82 • The regional governments have made a number of attempts at implementing strategies to strengthen the reindeer industry. I discuss such recommendation~ and measures and the details of the meat market in appendix 9. These details have only limited pertinence to the main topic of this chapter, which is the analysis of the relations between herders and officials within the sovkhoz. True, technological improvements and new marketing strategies are likely to have a positive effect on the livelihood of kontora people, as well as brigada people. However, apart from understanding what these strategies are, it is equally important to understand why they 81 However, most of the reindeer slaughtered in the last chamber constitute a meat supply for relatives in the village. 112 have failed more than once. These failures, which I also address in appendix 9, can be explained, at least partially, by the social and economic arrangements within the sovkhoz. I argue that the sovkhoz is used as an operational basis for private business by both kontora and brigada people. The following sections serve to illustrate and develop this point in more detail. 6.4 Beyond sovkhoz statistics: velvet antlers as extra capital The last two sections dealt mainly with meat, since it has such importance for the herders as well as the managers of the reindeer-herding enterprises. However, meat is not the only product. The recommendations to diversify the "output" of reindeer husbandry prompt us to look beyond the meat market. It will be remembered that the trade with reindeer hides is in a poor state, but another product deserves specific attention: velvet antlers (panty)83 • What are the velvet antlers needed for? After the antlers have been cut, they are dried and ground. The powder is then sold, predominantly to Far Eastern countries where it is considered an aphrodisiac. Around 1990, when trade connections between Russia and the Far East were developing rapidly, there was a virtual boom on the panty market. In the mid-1990s, prices slumped, but panty still provide a viable market. Although the herders know that the margin between fresh antlers and processed panty is large, they nonetheless consider the panty trade profitable for them, too. Some enterprises in the Komi Republic started to engage in cutting antlers in 1991 or 1992. When prices went down, the panty production ceased to exist as a collective business - but it has survived at the private level. In fact, antlers are cut all over the region, but when interviewing the directors of the reindeer-herding enterprises, the usual dialogue was: "We do not do panty." - "But the herders do?" - "I don't know." (FM 54, 86). In a recent analysis of reindeer husbandry in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, the paragraph about panty production closes with the remark: "Unfortunately, it is more difficult to obtain these data, as the managers of the enterprises, who act independe~tly, try not to disclose this information" (Association ... 1999a: [1 O]). Consequently, knowledge about the panty trade 82 Krug, Bezumov and Pasynkov (1997); Khrushchev and Klokov (1998); Association (1999a and 1999b); Jemsletten and Klokov (2002) etc. Interestingly, very similar suggestions were being made at the beginning of the 20th century by Kertselli (1911: 103, 108), cf section 4.3.2 and appendix 4. 83 Reindeer shed their antlers once a year (see page 24) and the new antlers grow under a dark skin with short fur. In the first months the antlers consist of tissue and are not ossified. The growth of velvet antlers of the uncastrated male deer starts in March, and of the female deer, approximately in June (Mukhachev, Salatkin and Mikhailova (eds.) 1992: 21). If grazing conditions are good, the antlers may grow by 1.5 centimetres per day in April (Kertselli 1911 : 82). Velvet antlers are usually sawn off in June. 113 Figure 27. Cutting antlers. The reindeer herder (in the centre) selects the animals to be cut from among his private deer; the other men do the actual cutting with a small saw. (Near Kolva-Ty, 28 June 1999) comes to the fore only piecemeal. However, some people, including the herders, speak quite frankly about it. In the case of "Ust'-Usinskii", the antlers of the male deer are cut during the spring corral (figure 27). It is at the discretion of the herders which of their animals shall be cut. Most herders would not refuse. When the cutting took place at brigada N° 9, for certain reasons VASILII was not willing or able to attend it. Afterwards his wife TANIA bitterly scolded him for missing this opportunity to get some extra income. While lzHMA FED' did not have any of his animals cut either, IVAN and his nephew-cum-stepson ANDREI sold about 20 or 30 kilograms of antlers each that day. Panty are taken not only from private but also from collective animals; in this case the revenue goes to the sovkhoz, which most probably means that the revenue goes to a certain individual or peer group in the kontora. It is hard to believe that the directors "do not know" about this. Quite remarkable is the fact that, once again, it is not t,he herders who were sawing their animals's antlers. Instead, this was done by a son of OsH VAS' and by TRET'IAKOV. OLEG was present, too, and he and SHARIKOV brought the fresh antlers to Usinsk and resold them. Considering the substantial profit margin, SHARIKOV mentioned that they are thinking about drying and grinding the antlers themselves. Again, what becomes transparent is the fact that some of the managers of the reindeer-herding enterprise use their jobs as an operational basis for private business. We can discern two spheres in the former sovkhoz: the collective and the private one; yet both 114 are intertwined in manifold respects. From what I have understood, the strategy behind the transactions of the enterprise as a whole is to earn reasonable profits, keep the balance close to zero in order to save on taxes, and take advantage of certain state subsidies. At the same time, part of the "real" business is done by the people of the enterprise and physically within the enterprise, but economically outside the enterprise. This partly explains the failure of privatisation: for the people in the sovkhoz (now a municipal organisation), it is more advantageous to keep the official structure while using it in their own ways. In the next section, I shall show that not only the management, but also the reindeer herders and their family members, take advantage of this opportunity. The practices described above are not limited to "Ust'-Usinskii": to a larger or smaller extent, they can be found in all reindeer-herding enterprises in the Komi Republic, and beyond. In fact, the circumstance that enterprises are being used as umbrella organisations for private entrepreneurship (Konstantinov 2002) is just one variant of the oft-mentioned informal sector of the Russian economy (e.g. Ledeneva 1998). I shall further develop this argument in the following sections. 6.5 Supply of the brigades, and more sovkhoz statistics "If young people do not want any longer to engage in reindeer husbandry, then it is first of all because the management does not pay any attention to the problems of the herders; the brigades lack even the most essential things .. . The sovkhoz is totally neglected; life conditions are really bad; the canvas (brezent) is full of holes and we do not know where to get new canvas from. There are no radios .. . Altogether, the bosses act as if they think 'Live as you want! (Zhivite kak khotite!)'. The managers are more concerned about how to build a nice house or how to buy a posh car." (FM 49) There are copious such complaints among herders and tent workers about the poor support given by those working in the office to those working in the tundra. Apart from canvas, there is a lack of felt cloth (for the inner tent cover), medicaments, veterinary medicaments, rifles, ammunition, waders, radios, diesel fuel and other things in most of the brigades of the Komi reindeer-herding enterprises. In some places, including "Ust' - Usinskii", food supplies have also deteriorated. The director of this enterprise admitted that tea, sugar and rusks could not be dispatched to the brigades in sufficient amounts. And if they are delivered, the tent workers and herders grumble that the quality of these provisions is a far cry from what it used to be in the 1980s. Altogether, the members of 115 reindeer-herding families are highly dissatisfied with the payment and services of the sovkhoz84. In the tundra it is impossible to rely solely on sovkhoz supplies: before they leave the village, the tent workers and herdsmen buy bread, rusks, tea, milk powder, flour, rice, pasta and canned products as far as their budget permits. Trading with oil workers and other visitors to the tundra85, with the panty traders as well as kontora members on a private basis, is becoming increasingly significant. The reindeer-herding families have to pay for the food products delivered by the enterprise, but not for the actual transport. For years, the tent workers and herdsmen were given only a fraction of their wages in cash and, in practice, the unpaid wages covered debts for food supplies86• The people in the tundra and the people in the office know each other well - in many cases they are relatives - and therefore there is usually no need for long check-lists. The dispatchers rely on their experience. The consumption of meat is not free of charge either, unless the herders slaughter their private animals (which they do rarely). Obshchepit, an abbreviation of a term best translated as "collective nutrition", is the official word for the consumption of collective animals by the brigades during their migrations. The reindeer-herding families pay a reduced price of 10 roubles (as of July 1999) per kilogram to the enterprise. This kind of procurement is also known as "concessionary meat" (l 'gotnoe miaso ). To return to the sovkhoz statistics, slaughter and "collective nutrition" (obshchepit) together make up the category "killed for realisation" (zabito na realizatsiiu). This category itself is subsumed under "productive expenditure" (delovoi raskhod). "Productive expenditure" also includes bonus reindeer presented by the enterprise to herders for their successful work (naturoplata) and other expenditures, for example reindeer transactions with neighbouring enterprises. The dark side of the sovkhoz inventory is known as 84 One reason for the poor quality and insufficient quantity of the supplies is the fact that the enterprises are not solvent and most items are purchased by barter. The actual principles of barter between companies are complex (Humphrey 2000; Seabright 2000): prices always seem higher than on the "real" markets. The price of a kilogram of reindeer meat increases by 20 per cent if sold by barter ( appendix 9). The prices for goods purchased by the reindeer-herding enterprises are beyond reasonable imagination, as one director stated in public (FM 128), although (or perhaps even because) barter connections are frequently estab- lished through informal networks (see page l 08). 85 In chapter 2 (page 29), I mentioned BORODA, whose cabin is used for transactions between herders and townspeople from Vorkuta. 86 Cf page 47. Official wages for tent workers ranged between 900 and 1,700 roubles per month and for herdsmen, between 1,300 and 2,000 roubles per month (as of late 1998 in Inta District, FM 128b). A herdsman' s wage depends on his work stage or degree. The first degree, bron '-uchenik ("apprentice"), is usually given to herders under age of 18. Thereafter a herdsman may achieve the degrees of third-class, second-class and first- class herder. Brigadiers are usually emolled as first-class herders (FM 82). 116 "unproductive losses" ( neproizvoditel 'naia ubyl '), which has three sub-categories. The first, "plague" (padezh), denotes the deer that have fallen victim to all manner of diseases. The second, literally called "trampling down" (travezh ), stands for those animals killed by predators. The third, simply called "losses" (poteri), comprises the deer that have somehow vanished and those that have undergone forced slaughter. Only the latter will be used for the brigade's meat pots: all animals that have died of diseases, predators or malnutrition will, at best, be fed to the dogs. However, one should always take the sovkhoz statistics with a generous pinch of salt. After all, the executive of the enterprise who is responsible for compiling the statistics did not witness the death of the animal. On the basis of archival materials presented in section 4.4, we have already learnt that "the possibility of reindeer losses without notice cannot be excluded". When it comes to classifying dead animals, there is probably a lot of creativity. In Eastern Siberia, a reindeer herders' joke says: "Our wolves here are very clever. They read the earmarks. They can tell a sovkhoz reindeer from a private reindeer (Unas volki ochen' gramotnye. Oni chitaiut metki. Oni umeiut otlichat' sovkhoznykh ot chastnykh olenei)"87• Discussing reindeer husbandry on Kola Peninsula Konstantinov openly asserts: "When it comes to: (a) shooting deer for the pot; and (b) selling meat informally (nalevo ), they are invariably taken from the collective herd, and, if circumstances allow, from another brigade's herd. Losses are attributed to poachers ... and predators .. . " (2002: 178). Personally, I have never witnessed any case of bogus losses, but from the interviews there is some evidence that they may sometimes occur also in herds in the Komi and Nenets regions. Although the sovkhoz directors and agricultural authorities are well aware of the problems the herders and tent workers have to cope with, their perspective is understandably dominated by meat output and herd productivity. The remaining columns in the sovkhoz statistics testify to this attitude, while salient economic developments - notably panty production - do not appear in the template of the table88 • Herd productivity is expressed in functions such as meat production divided by the amount of deer as of January (the previous year's inventory), or productive output of calves divided by the amount of deer, or average live-weight of the animals slaughtered. Of course, the herders too are anxious about the fate of the reindeer, and their work ethic demands that they save as many animals as possible from starvation, predators or other forms of loss, and select pastures and herding methods that facilitate the health, growth and fattening of the deer. 87 Piers Vitebsky, University of Cambridge, personal communication, 30 May 2001. 117 However, good production figures can only be achieved if there is sufficiently high morale among those who work in the tundra. In the current situation of poor material support, delays in wages and alleged or proven corruption, it is no surprise if the herders do not fulfil - and sometimes even do not want to fulfil - any productivity expectations. What the table in appendix 6 (and "meat productivity" in particular) can tell us is the disastrous combination of material shortcomings, disinterest and an exceptional bad weather situation in spring 1999. What it does not tell openly, however, are the manifold ways whereby the white-collar workers and the herders gain personal benefits by using the sovkhoz for private purposes. 6. 6 Why privatisation has failed Considering the harsh critique by the reindeer-herding families of the management and their despair about insufficient supplies in the tundra (page 115), one may ask why the herders do not try to leave the enterprises and become independent, even more so as the existence of large numbers of private reindeer would justify such a step. In fact, this was discussed for a couple of years among workers of the reindeer-herding enterprises in the Komi Republic, but none of them has actually left their enterprise. There are, however, newly established co-operatives in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug and independent herders on both sides of the Urals. These co-operatives and independent herders are described in appendix 10, which also includes a tentative explanation for the different performance of Komi and Nenets in terms of privatisation. In this section I shall confine myself to explaining the reasons for Komi herders' and managers' reluctance to privatise. In theory, privatisation is possible and has been encouraged by the Russian government since 1991. Yet private ownership of agricultural land, including reindeer pastures, is not permitted. Reindeer-herding enterprises - be they former collective or state farms or be they newly-founded, "privatised" units - receive their titles to land in the form of long-term leases. By early 1998, the mechanisms of agric~ltural privatisation and the question of land tenure were either still unclear or not yet defined at all in the Komi Republic (Ivanov, Mal'tseva and Terent'ev 1998: 68-9) as well in many other regions of the Russian Federation. This circumstance does not ultimately forestall the establishment 88 In the concluding section of this chapter, we shall see that the very absence of panty data in the sovkhoz statistics speaks to its significance as a manipulable resource in Humphrey's sense. 118 of new enterprises, as examples from other administrative units show89, but certainly hampers it. The existing structure works in favour of the revamped collective and state farms and gives little space for reindeer herders' initiative. Thus, until now all the reindeer pastures in this region are officially in public ownership and allotted to the agricultural enterprises on a long-term lease (25 years) by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Komi Republic and its Land Committee (FM 122) and their Nenets counterparts. All the land between the White Sea and the Urals is split up and distributed among the reindeer-herding enterprises (the former collective and state farms), with the exception of small non-agricultural areas around the towns and villages of the region. If herders want to establish an independent business and apply for a land allotment, this land is to be taken from one of the enterprises already existing. Consequently, what is worth fighting for is not land as such but control of the enterprises that carry the land with them. Considering the spatial pattern of reindeer herding in this region, it generally does not make much sense to transfer separate parcels of land to individual families or small groups. A viable new enterprise requires pastures in both the taiga and tundra. Moreover, there is the question of the minimum size of the herders' group. Komi reindeer herders, as well as officials, stress that herding cannot be done by just one family: "Life in the collective is easier" (FM 132); "You cannot survive in the tundra just on your own" (FM 12). Even if the whole brigade decided to stay together, one brigade alone would be vulnerable owing to weather conditions and veterinary diseases. A further thought would then be: Why not simply get rid of the management? If the reindeer-herding families have the explicit opinion that they are subject to the whims of corrupt managers ( see above, page 115), they might dismiss them and decide their affairs themselves. To tell the truth; it is convenient to stay. Not only the management and executive staff, but also the herders and their families use the former sovkhoz as a platform for their own private activities, notably the herding of their private animals. As one brigadier in Petrun' put it, it is impossible to live without private reindeer; the herders and their families need them for survival, since the enterprise they work for gives them virtually nothing. However, they do not want to leave the enterprise and set up their own private 89 CJ Golovnev and Osherenko (1999: 125-128) concerning the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug; Novikova (2000) with regard to the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug; and Fondahl (1998) on the Transbaikal region. The situation in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug is discussed in appendix 10. 119 business, because the taxes would be too high (FM 58). Later his mother added, "We cannot expect anything from the enterprise". When I reported this assessment to another interviewee, this one flared up: "They of all people must complain! They have one of the largest private herds and live at the expense of the state. They graze their animals on pasture land they do not pay taxes for, and benefit from the helicopter financed by the enterprise" (FM 59). Indeed, being an employee of the sovkhoz yields considerable advantages for the owner of a large number of private reindeer (being a relative of a herdsman or tent-worker is almost as good). It facilitates access to pasture land, veterinary services are free of charge, and so is transport, even if it has become infrequent in comparison to previous years. Further, all manner of transactions can be done without being liable to taxation. Hassles with the revenue office and the local airline are better left in the hands of the management of the sovkhoz. My impression is that most herders and their family members would not like to face the imponderables of economic independence (cf Sabev 2002: 20). However, when asked about their economic situation, instead of talking about the benefits that the herders enjoy through sovkhoz membership, they instead lament the difficulties they are experiencing. This is perfectly understandable. It is not my aim to belittle these problems - who would tolerate wages coming with a delay of more than a year? - but I just wish to analyse the reasons for herders complying with the organisational structures as they currently exist. The issue of combining collective with private reindeer herding is a salient and oft- mentioned one in the Komi Republic. Most interviewees did ( or would) hold that in the current setting, both could only survive together. Some call for regulations. The representative of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Komi Republic recommended the introduction of public funding for reindeer herders with fewer than 50 reindeer in their possession and making herders with more than 50 deer contribute to the overheads of the enterprises they are working for. There would be no legal measures but it would be up to the enterprises to return to, or retain, limits for the number of private deer (FM 128). Suggestions such as this one are certainly not met with much accord on the part of the herders. In a way, it is not their fault that, as a long-term consequence of the collectivisation and allocation of pastures, there is scarcely any ground left for private initiative within the current territorial framework. Confined in their spatial flexibility by the rather rigid boundaries of their allotments, a herder is likely to resort to flexibility inside these confines. Although diddling with reindeer figures is not envisaged in the 120 herders' work ethic, it is surely part and parcel of a modus vivendi linking the herder with the manager in their shared intelligence that book-keeping and everyday life in the tundra may be a far cry from each other. Hence, the importance of the spring and autumn corrals is more than an economic one: as I pointed out on page . 28, these are the moments when the office hits the tundra, when the kontora visits the brigada, when the herders and tent workers must take responsibility for the shortcomings of their work (should any be apparent). The management, for sure, know that control mechanisms must not be too harsh. At the end of the day, managers and herders are dependent on each other. Perhaps it is not by accident that I had the feeling of a carrot-and-stick approach deployed by 0SH VAS' and SHARIKOV: while the former' s role was usually to rebuke herders for slackness and drinking at work, the latter had a more psychological attitude when receiving these very herders in his hut, sharing with them the latest news and a shot or two. I suggest that the mutual dependence of brigada and kontora people mirrors James Scott's description of patron- client relations (1976). The communication between the herders and their managers includes elements of trust and of tension. We should not over-estimate the gulf between those working in the office and those working in the tundra, since there are numerous family relations between the members of the two groups (cf pp. 38-39). For example, I got to know an elderly, esteemed brigadier whose sister works in the accountancy department. I reckon that from her brother's point of view, her position must be strategically excellent. "It may be added that Accountants' Offices of the former sovkhozes are past masters in mystification of reality ... There is a long tradition here of creating a world impenetrable to the uninitiated" (Konstantinov 2002: 179). The role of the accountants, as well as of other members of staff, consists not in preventing the herders from informal business, but in balancing official and unofficial business in a bureaucratically highly creative way90• The spirit of collectivity is still alive in the reindeer-herding enterprises of the Komi Republic, but in varying degrees. In an enterprise with a charismatic and successful boss (such as "Olenevod" in Vorkuta") or prize-winning brigadiers ("Bol' shaia Inta"), the centripetal forces (i.e. the feeling of being part of the collective) are comparatively strong. In the corridors of "U st'-U sinskii", nonchalance prevails. After my return from brigada N° 9 to the village, I went to the sovkhoz office and offered to pay the director at least part of 9° Cf Humphrey's meticulous analysis of collective farm book-keeping during the Soviet era, and the unintended and intended ways wherein the data became distorted (1998: 195-227). 121 the expenses the enterprise must have incurred by providing me with helicopter lifts. He then asked which of the workers should actually be given the money. It was only then that I realised nobody was really interested in the advancement of the enterprise as a whole. Rather, the former sovkhoz and now municipal unitary enterprise91 "Ust'-Usinskii" is mainly used for negotiating private transactions and accruing personal profits. The comparison of "U st' -U sinskii" with the other enterprises also sheds light on the relations between managers and herders in general. Drawing on his fieldwork material from Kola Peninsula, Sabev (2002: 22-23) describes the relation between kontora and brigada as formal and as one of vertical character, while he sees the relations between brigades (and between herders and other individual actors in the tundra) as informal and horizontal. Sabev's assessment, I propose, accurately describe the situation in enterprises like "Olenevod" Vorkuta and "Bol'shaia Inta", where the managers maintain a powerful position by tying the brigades together and reinvigorating some sense of collectivity; and in doing so, they manage to distinguish themselves from the subordinate employees. In "Ust'-Usinskii", however, managers and herders are so deeply entangled in negotiating with each other at the informal level that their formal and so-called vertical relations can merely be interpreted as fa9ade. The erosion of formal leadership in an enterprise like this one may lead to its gradual disintegration. The collective is crumbling under the overwhelming weight of particular interests. Within the kontora, a group of individuals has attained control over almost all official as well as informal transactions. I shall call these people the oligarchs of the sovkhoz. We have seen that the sovkhoz comprises two interdependent domains: the kontora and the brigada; however, within the kontora there is an informal circle of people who manage to receive the lion's share of the profits. In the exemplary case of "Ust'- Usinskii", the oligarchs are more powerful than the director, although they derive their power only from their-"connections" and not from personal authority92• In contrast, the ideal sovkhoz director is thought to combine both qualities (as shall be explained further in 91 Remarkably, while other enterprises had already changed their juridical status from sovkhoz to SPK (se/ 'skokhoziaistvenno-proizvodstvennyi kooperativ, agricultural production co-operative) or similar forms, "Ust'-Usinskii" remained a sovkhoz until 1 January 2000. It is now under the auspices of the district administration in U sinsk. In fact, there was no privatisation, but only devolution of responsibility (from the republican to the district level). As a sovkhoz, the enterprise received direct subsidies from the state, now the subsidies come via governmental development programmes and other incentives. 92 Above (annotation 73) I said that the reindeer herders and tent workers meet OSH VAS' with a feeling of awe but not with respect. Probably he has an intermediate position, being connected to the reindeer-herding family by his private reindeer in the brigades' herds and by the ties of kinship, and yet being disconnected by the virtue of his role as a boss. His statement that he sometimes feels as if he was in a "madhouse" (page 4 7) might point to his incapability to come to terms with the brigada members. 122 chapter 9). I contend that neither of the parties involved (brigada, kontora and the oligarchs) is interested in privatisation because it would mean the demolition of the formal structures upon which informal activities can take place. In the final section of the present chapter, I am going to discuss my findings about the relations between herders and managers, between brigada and kontora, with reference to other anthropologists' research. 6. 7 The private and the public dimension of the sovkhoz In preceding paragraphs, I have shown that the former state farm - the sovkhoz, as it is still called - has a Janus-faced appearance. On one hand, a sovkhoz such as "Ust'-Usinskii" looks like a shattered enterprise, an apocalyptic story if interpreted along the lines of market economy. On the other hand, beyond this "reality" as perceived by Western consultants, there is another "reality" that comes to the fore only if we look at personal relations and strategies within the enterprise. The sovkhoz provides the formal frame for informal business. These observations fully coincide with Konstantinov's concept of crypto-entrepreneurship: "In contrast to 'overt entrepreneurship', this seeks existential security through social and economic activities in which private concerns operate under the umbrella of collective property and collectivistic ideology in practice" (Konstantinov 2002: 172-173, his emphasis). Various anthropologists have repeatedly discerned this phenomenon in Soviet times. Thus, on the basis of her fieldwork in Buryatia in 1966-75, Humphrey notes in her thorough analysis of collective farm life and economy: "In other words, the 'private' is not as private as it may seem, nor is the 'public' as public" (1998: 1; also cf Yurchak 1997: 165). Many of the phenomena that have been described in this chapter were present throughout the socialist era, as Humphrey vividly illustrates. A key concept she uses is the importance of "manipulable resources" (1998: 9, 195 et passim). In a socio-economic order characterised by five-year plans, socialist competition, a rather strict functional hierarchy and civic equality at the same time, manipulable resources could be used to raise one's personal status, express amity and/or display power. Manipulable resources were created through undeclared surplus production, through sorts of products not envisaged by the production plan, and in other ways. I think that in the reindeer-herding domain, velvet antlers (panty, see section 6.4) constitute such a manipulable resource: few enterprises need to mention them in the official accounts and yet it is a highly profitable business. But what seems odd here is the circumstance that this resource has become prominent in the 123 I I I 1990s, that is in the post-socialist period. I assume that the internal structures and functions in the revamped collective and state farms have persisted to such an extent that manipulable resources are still useful. The assumption is corroborated by the fact that herders as well as white-collar workers still use the term sovkhoz ( or, in the Nenets case, kolkhoz) when they speak about their enterprises. This attitude is manifest not only in the European North (e.g. Sabev 2002) but also well beyond, and literature is ripe with examples from all parts of Russia. The sovkhoz is dead - long live the sovkhoz. Both authors previously quoted emphasise the dimension of the collective or state farm as "encompassing the whole of a reality of a region" (Humphrey 1998: 4), as a cultural concept or even a world-view, as "not only the most desirable form of livelihood, but indeed the only conceivable, although now seriously shattered, reality" (Konstantinov 2000: 49). Humphrey and others are inclined to describe the kolkhoz and sovkhoz as a "total social institution" (Hann 2002: 3; Pine and Bridger 1998: 9). Apparently, the tenacity of the kolkhoz and sovkhoz is rooted in part in pre-Soviet modes of collective rural economy; it is surely highly pertinent to reindeer husbandry, an activity that calls for collective labour to a higher degree than most other forms of agriculture. Little wonder then if independent entrepreneurship is inconceivable for most herders; the more so as it entails setting off for the unknown and hostile realm of red tape and tax offices. A concomitant barrier is the widespread opinion that "traders" (kommersanty) are exploiters, if not criminals. Incentives to leave the collective and become a private herder are low - extremely low in the Komi case, but slightly larger in the Nenets case, as I have sought to analyse in appendix 10. This point leads me to refer briefly to Tuisku's discussion of active versus passive attitudes among reindeer herders in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Tuisku (1998) distinguishes three groups: (a) private herders who have split from the kolkhoz; (b) active kolkhoz members; and ( c) passive kolkhoz members. The first group has presented their agility by leaving the collective farm, so the distinction that interests us here is the one between the latter two groups. The "active" members actually do not expect anything from the collective, but do not leave it as this seems too difficult under the given circumstances; however, they try to diversify their household income and magnify their private herd, "trust in their own ability to run their own households and make plans for the future" (Tuisku 1998: 2). Passive members, on the contrary, do not try to improve their situation and "still believe that the kolkhoz will keep taking care of them, as it has done always". 124 Nevertheless, they complain bitterly about being forsaken by the kolkhoz; they are apathetic and often resort to alcohol. From my own fieldwork I can tell that a distinction between active and passive members of the collective is justified; however, I would like to emphasise that both groups share a wide field of ambiguity and similarity in their words and deeds. I have heard complaints in almost every reindeer-herding family, and in fact almost every family that I met in the Russia of the 1990s. In a way, everybody tries to "harvest" opportunities and resources within the reindeer-herding enterprise and beyond - but with varying success. The question as to who is passive and who is active may be explained by a person's psychological character, yet equally important is the individual's social status and role within the family, household, brigade, enterprise and village. This social status is interdependent with economic assets. Who has access to what resources? This chapter has provided a range of illustrations of the ways in which resources are allocated and opportunities made use of. White-collar workers and reindeer herders have been presented as different groups with conflicting interests and yet entangled in an economic and social symbiosis. For all of them reindeer husbandry is profitable, but in ways often diverging from what is expected and accepted in the official sphere with its highly normative approach. The assets, however, are distributed unevenly, as the role of the oligarchs in the informal trade has shown. But also within the group of the reindeer- herding families the assets are distributed unevenly. The next chapter will deal with the strategies that these families apply in order to make ends meet. 125 Chapter 7: Households, herders, tent workers The tundra was the centre stage of chapter 2, while chapter 3 provided an account of the protagonists' life in the village and their connections with town. Similarly, chapter 6 analysed the relations between the two domains, brigada and kontora, mainly in a tundra setting, whereas chapter 7 takes the analysis to the village and town again. To express the arrangement of the chapters in terms of domains, chapter 2 describes the domain of the brigada, and the kontora only comes to visit them. In chapter 3, we first see how the brigada people make a living in the village and within the village community, but later we also meet the kontora people and witness how the brigada people come to visit them. Chapter 6 provides a detailed examination of the interrelations between the two groups. In this chapter we shall temporarily put aside this distinction. The focus is again on the livelihood of reindeer-herding families in the context of the village community and the town. Let me map out this chapter by summarising its main arguments. Within the rural communities of the north of the Komi Republic, reindeer-herding families are not among the poorest, although many of them live in a precarious situation. I am using Alexia Bloch's (1996) pattern of social stratification to illustrate this. Ownership of private reindeer can give a sizeable extra income. Yet Komi reindeer-herding families also engage in other economic activities and try to diversify the sources of their household's income, which may be interpreted as a risk-avoidance strategy (Scott 197 6) or an economy of survival (Elwert 1985). Successful strategies depend on access to a diversity of resources, which itself calls for extensive social networks and mobility. It is in this sphere that reindeer-herding families can, and do, exert the highest degree of agency. Social networks and spatial mobility go beyond the domain of the village community; they extend into the domain of town. However, here we have to discern a major predicament: the proximity to town has a negative effect on the willingness of young people to work in reindeer husbandry. The question of who wants to work in reindeer husbandry clearly has a gendered dimension: Komi women generally find tent life less attractive than Komi men. My explanation of this difference builds upon research on the same phenomenon in other parts of Russia (Kwon 1997; Vitebsky and Wolfe 2001) and leads me to a discussion of differences in the valuation of "civilisation" and "culture", in relation to which women and men take on different social roles. School education implicitly promotes the superiority of village and town life but does little, if anything, to 126 provide children with the knowledge and skills they need in the forest or tundra. Such knowledge and skills are mediated by a different kind of pedagogy, and hence the reason I discuss the differences between "school pedagogy" and "tundra pedagogy". The practice of reindeer herding is taught in a context of kinship (Anderson 2000, Ssorin-Chaikov 1998). Thus, apart from the question of who wants to work in reindeer herding, we also have to address the question of who is able and eligible to do so. The self- esteem of reindeer herders derives from their ability to engage in a flexible way with the animals and the land. Even if kinship is important, the ability to become a reindeer herder is not "in the genes", as some outsiders suppose, and therefore does not primarily depend on ethnicity. Rather, as we shall see at the end of the chapter, one's experience in reindeer herding can provide the precondition for becoming integrated in a specific ethnic group, especially in contrast to groups engaging in other forms of land use. 7.1 Social stratification of reindeer-herding households For Komi reindeer-herding families, reindeer husbandry constitutes just one among various sources of income, one among several elements of their livelihood. It is the most salient element for them, but as the product (meat) is not constantly available, the families rely upon other gains, too. Reindeer-herding families complement herding with other forms of agriculture ( cattle breeding), fishing, berry-picking etc. and receive some monetary income by virtue of state pensions and social welfare payments93 • In the second half of the 1990s state payments were often more decisive than the state farm's wages, because the former were paid regularly, whereas the latter were not. The average pension in the northern Komi villages added more to the household's wallet than the occasional state farm's avans94. The last chapter ended with the remark that assets are distributed unevenly, not only with regard to kontora and brigada but also within the brigada and within the community of reindeer-herding families. In this section I shall address the question of social stratification among these families. "In contemporary Russia, a~ the former Soviet Union, the amount of money that one receives officially does not determine how well a person lives or if a person is able to have access to goods and services". This has been observed 93 In addition, monetary income.from employment in the oil industry has become increasingly important for the inhabitants ofUst'-Usa and Novikbozh over the last five years. 94 The average pension in this region amounted to some 550 roubles per month as of early 1999. Avans is actually a delayed and partial payment of the official wages, which I quote in chapter 6, annotation 86. To the best of my knowledge, in 1998-9 reindeer herders and tent workers of the enterprise "Ust' -Usinskii" never received more than 500 roubles avans; usually such payments were between 100 and 300 roubles . 127 by Anderson (1995: 274) on the Taimyr Peninsula and he further argues "that access to transport and to readily exchangeable goods are the most meaningful axis of stratification". Social stratification in indigenous communities in Siberia is also an issue that Bloch (1996: 143-165) deals with in her study of boarding schools in the Evenki Autonomous Okrug. In what follows I shall try to adapt Bloch's pattern of social classification to Komi reindeer herders' households95 • Her typology comprises expansive, funnelling, transitional and marginal households. The four types correspond with rich, well-off, adequate and poor households, as Bloch explains, but to describe them merely in such economic terms is not the point she wants to make. Rather, Bloch uses those terms in order to identify the "types of networks they maintain for coping with the market economy" (ibid.: 144). Social capital, i.e. networks, goes hand in hand with economic capital. Further, in addition to the aspect of social capital, the terminology also relates to spatial mobility. To illustrate, one indicator she uses is the presence or absence of a buran (snowmobile) or a motorboat or both in the given household. Indeed, in many rural regions of northern Russia, having access to these two means of transport has almost become a precondition for hunting, fishing and other forms of "working the land". This holds for the north of the Komi Republic, too. A buran ( or a boat) clearly presents a means of production, a material asset in the hands of a household and a basis for social distinction. The owner may or may not lend it to someone else, depending not only on "rational" considerations but also on personal amities or animosities. It is a commodity negotiated in the local social network96• It is appropriate to apply Bloch's typology to Komi reindeer-herding communities (being aware of the caveat of the author herself: the four types are to be thought of as elastic categories; there are no clear-cut lines between them). There are very few "expansive households" in the northern villages of Komi Republic. In Novikbozh, the only one that would somehow qualify is that one of 0SH VAS' (pp. 43-44). It should be remembered that he is not a reindeer herder but a reindeer owner. His position as what I have called "oligarch" (page 122) in the informal structure of the sovkhoz gives him and 95 I am aware of the difficulties of differentiating the concept of household from other concepts, such as family, or economic unit, as discussed, for example, by Humphrey (1998: 291). Here I keep to the definition provided by Stack 1974, quoted by Bloch (1996: 143): "the smallest, organized, durable, network of kin and non-kin who interact daily, providing domestic needs of children and assuring their survival". Note that both the tent and the house fulfil these criteria and functions. 96 The helicopter, on the other hand, is a resource so scarce, unpredictable and beyond control of the reindeer-herding families (and even partly beyond control of the sovkhoz) that people treat it nowadays rather as an opportunity: sometimes it turns up while at other times it does not. Even if there must be some competition between the reindeer-herding brigades as to who and whose freight will be taken aboard, the community as a whole has a common and vital interest in these rare events. 128 I his family the potential to expand economically ( and to enlarge their house). The number of "expansive households" is slightly larger in Ust'-Usa and they are mostly to be found among the local shop owners. None of the reindeer-herding families belong to the category of "expansive households" and even the other oligarchs within the sovkhoz - OLEG' s family, for instance - would come rather under "funnelling households" than under "expansive" ones. Roughly half of all Komi reindeer-herding households correspond to the category "transitional", the other half are "marginal". In my interpretation, this differentiation largely coincides with Tuisku's distinction between active and passive herders and families (chapter 6, pp. 124- 125). Reindeer-herding families are not the poorest group among the village inhabitants. To be sure, some of them are among the poorest, but as long as at least one family member works in the tundra, the household has access to meat and antlers (panty), in other words, to readily exchangeable goods (Anderson) or manipulable resources (Humphrey). Bloch's description of the transitional households in the Evenki Autonomous Okrug deserves specific attention. "In contrast to most Tura [the Okrug centre] households, these transitional households maintained at least two bases so as to allow for flexibility and to take advantage of the possibilities in both locations" (1996: 153). The concept of "transitional households" makes us aware of a common feature all over the Russian north: families and their members operate and dwell in various locations, sometimes hundreds of kilometres away from each other, in order to have access to various resources and secure their livelihood, be they Evenki, Nenets or Komi. Among the Komi reindeer-herding families, as well as other rural inhabitants in the north of the Komi Republic, there is also a tendency to extend their ambit to town. In a way, they try to retain and expand their spatial mobility against all the odds of erratic aviation. To illustrate what I understand as "transitional" and "marginal" households in the context of Komi reindeer herders, I shall compare two families that we already know from brigada N° 10, both living in Novikbozh. YELENA's family provides a good example of a "transitional" household (it is described in detail in section 3.l). ZHENIA's appointment as a brigadier gives him favourable professional prospects for the next 20 years; by that time, he will have reached pension age. Within the brigade his position is now the most influential one and he must put to use this authority to maintain the social viability of the brigade and to re-enlarge the size of the herd. V AN'KO will be able to give him full assistance in about five years, thus the future of the family's engagement in reindeer husbandry looks secure. MISHKO shows great aptitude for a technical profession and it is 129 likely that he will find a job as a mechanic or something similar either in Ust'-Usa or in nearby Usinsk. ANIA's marriage to a Russian engineer - he is employed in the oil industry - certainly has the support of her mother, although it could mean that from now on she will live quite far away from Novikbozh and will not be able to help any longer in the daily maintenance of YELENA's household. Perhaps YELENA's greater concern is the future of her other two daughters; it is not yet clear where they will go. When one of the local shops shut down, KATIA became unemployed. Moreover, concerning ROZA, it is questionable whether she will be admitted to university and whether the family will find the financial means necessary for her studies. YELENA receives visitors almost every day. Apart from her relatives, she has good connections with the family next door and the two households operate on a basis of reciprocal help and exchange. A pensioner, whose private reindeer migrate with the herd of brigade N° 10, helps YELENA with chopping up the logs when ZHENIA is not in the village. This pensioner also took part in the refurbishment of the house, when one of the wooden beams in the foundations of the house had to be replaced. Four men were involved in the refurbishment, two of them being relatives, the other two friends of the family. These two received a small payment for their help. Among the people that occasionally pop around to YELENA' s house are OLEG and his wife SVETLANA. It was YELENA who taught SVETLANA how to sew fur boots. The good relationship between the two families is certainly not to YELENA's disadvantage. If things need to be done in the district centre Usinsk, SVETLANA and OLEG may help. To conclude, apart from the children being placed in various occupational positions, YELENA's family has also access to additional resources and opportunities through their intensive social networking. However, YELENA and her family's household budget is always tight. The moderate affluence that the family has accomplished is a fragile one. Should ZHENIA for any reason become unable to work as a herder, the whole family would face serious trouble. This almost happened in February 1999, when ZHENIA was called up for the army. He was not afraid of joining the army, but it would have meant economic problems for the family. After a long period of suspense, he was finally exempted from military service, thanks to the personal and informal intervention of a distant uncle, who works in a leading position in the Department of Agriculture of the Usinsk District. The family of STEP AN, LIUBA and KosTIA ( cf page 31) 1s m a more precanous situation, and quite clearly they represent a "marginal" household. To be sure, STEPAN has been a good herdsman, but his health is not good after he had a stroke a few years ago. 130 LIUBA would be a perfect tent-worker, was it not for her propensity to take part in the men's drinking bouts, a habit secretly despised by ZHENIA. The fate of the family now mainly depends on KOSTIA, who is the nimblest herder I have ever seen and who has not yet got used to the bottle. KosTIA has two sisters, but I do not know them because they were absent kept to the backroom whenever I visited the family. I understood that they were embarrassed about the picture of poverty and disorder in the house (notably when compared with the house of YELENA's family) and about their parents' being tipsy when I arrived. When STEPAN is in the village he occasionally joins a group of fishermen to procure some extra food. The family owns a boat, but the outboard motor is broken, and so is the buran (motor-sledge). LIUBA is definitely one of the friendliest and nicest people that I have met in Russia, and therefore I regret even the more that she has fewer "connections" than, for example, YELENA. A good friend and frequent visitor of the family is STEPAN's nephew ONDRIUK, but the family he belongs to has even more problems than LIUBA and STEPAN. The house where ONDRIUK lives gives clear testimony to the family's fecklessness, as even the basic duties of household maintenance are being neglected. What unites the two families is a certain mixture of serenity and melancholy that I have found typical of reindeer-herding families with regular, long-term alcohol consumption. It is this atmosphere - an atmosphere of apathy and passivity - that makes me think of these families as "marginal" households. 7.2 Spatial mobility, social networks, and the notion of "home" So far, we have seen that a family's potential for action depends on their access to resources, and this, in turn, depends to a large extent on social networks and spatial mobility. Let us now extend our perspective towards a domain that earlier may have appeared peripheral to reindeer-herding families: the town. Distance and means of transportation determine how difficult access to town is ( cf figure 1 ). The reindeer-herding families of "Bol'shaia Inta" and "Olenevod" (Vorkuta) are in an exceptional position, inasmuch as their houses are located just a couple of kilometres away from the town centres. For those of "Ust' -Usinskii" and "Fion" (Abez'), the district centre is accessible within two hours; the fare is approximately 60 roubles for the round trip. Many of the reindeer-herding families of "Izhemskii olenevod", too, are in a comparatively favourable situation and can reach the district centre within a few hours. Those of "Sevemyi" (Mutnyi Materik), "gospromkhoz Intinskii" (Petrun') and most enterprises in the Nenets 131 Autonomous Okrug cannot travel to town and back to the village within one day, therefore they have to find a place to stay. For them it is highly convenient if one of the family members, usually a child, has a flat in the district centre97• If this is not the case, a traveller from a reindeer-herding community will rely on more distant relatives or friends in town. Putting to use one's social network during a journey is by no means uncommon in Russia. On the contrary, it seems that among the most dreadful and depressing experiences a Russian citizen can have is a journey to a town where he/she does not know anybody. Of course, social networks exist everywhere, not only in Russia; yet what I want to point out is that the mechanisms employed in social networks differ in various countries and communities. Peculiar to the former Soviet Union is the fact that such networks can extend over thousands of kilometres. Considering that reindeer-herding families would correspond to what in the West constitutes the working class, we can discern an exceptionally high degree of spatial mobility that in British, French or German society is matched only by families of migrant workers and immigrants who retain their contacts in their home communities. Working and living in a place far away from the rest of the family is a common element in the biographies of the reindeer people and migrant workers in various parts of the world. And in both cases, the worker usually lives in contact, or together, with other individuals from the home region. Yet there is a significant difference between migrant workers and (semi-)nomads in their perceptions of home and homeland (cf Fortier 2000: 157-165). For nomads, "home" is always there where the movable abode is. For semi- nomads, such as Komi reindeer herders, the notion of "home" is not confined to the house in the village, either. When the herders that I stayed with spoke about travelling to Novikbozh or Ust'-Usa, they did not say: "I am going home" (me muna gortam), but they said: "I am going to the village" (me muna volos'to)98 • 97 Comparing Nenets with Komi reindeer herders' strategies in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Skvirskaia discerns different patterns of familial strategies: the Komi have a preference for their children to be placed in town, whereas for the Nenets the underlying rationale is that "the tundra cannot feed all our children; some of them should stay in the village" (personal communication with Vera Skvirskaia, University of Cambridge, 25 October 2001). 98 The Komi word vo/6s 't, which is here translated as "village", is derived from the Russian word volost '. This term denoted the administrative unit on the lowest level in Czarist Russia. It could also refer to the centre of this unit (usually a village). Although this administrative level ceased to exist in Soviet times, the second meaning ("village" or "centre") still exists in Komi language. My conclusion - it may be far- fetched - is that the herders perceive the village as the most important fixed point of reference on their migration route (cf page 34). 132 While in chapter 2 I initially pictured the tent and the stove within as the very centre of the herders' and tent workers ' life-world, chapter 3 and the present chapter show that the house in the village might equally well represent the centre of it. Perhaps we should say it represents the centre of a different and yet equivalent life-world99• The tent is certainly perceived as something more than just a seasonal workspace; by the same token, the house is certainly perceived as something more than just a place where the herdsman can relax from January to April. However, as we shall see later in this chapter, the two spheres are perceived differently by the different genders and individuals. 7.3 Social relations in the tundra versus village There are also differences in the perception of the tent community as it is seen by those who work there and those working in the office of the reindeer-herding enterprise. Istomin observed that the word "brigade" (brigada) denotes the formal composition of the herding unit as it appears on the payroll of the enterprise. The herders, tent workers and their family members usually use the Komi word for "tent" chom (and, derived from it, the Russian term chum) when they speak about those living and working in the tent. However, chom comprises more individuals than brigada: It describes "the group eligible to live there and to have their share in the group's common income ... " (Istomin 2000: 58; cf page 104 of the present thesis). Thus, school children who join the herders during the summer holiday and pensioners who own some animals within the herd also belong to the chom. When members of one brigade speak about another brigade, they also prefer the word chom to brigada. The latter term appears in the printed sovkhoz statistics and all official paperwork. Of course, the managers of the reindeer-herding enterprise are aware of the necessity of having brigades that function well in a social sense (and it is the job of 0SH VAS ' to look into this as much as he can). As the management has little or no control over the brigades for most of the year, group responsibility within the brigade rt;?places constant surveillance. "Officially, every man applying to the sovkhoz can become a member of a brigade. However, the administration of the enterprise has to admit, that in the existing conditions, when the members of the brigade should work and live together for a long time, the problem of trust and psychological reciprocity is of crucial importance. Therefore, the members ofa brigade, and especially its head, have the right of final decision about the acceptance of each new member" (lstomin 2000: 60). 99 In a similar vein, Chabot (2003 : 14) speaks about Nunavik Inuit villages and outpost camps as "two social universes", although Inuit families exist and operate in both of them. 133 As Istomin has pointed out, the classic case of the chom' s social composition 1s represented by the head of the brigade, his wife and sons on the one side of the tent; and a younger relative of the brigadier, possibly his younger brother or cousin, with his family members on the other side. "The heads of the families can easily find consensus in the important topic of group life, even more so, qecause they are relatives and the younger accepts the authority of the older" (ibid. : 65). Unfortunately, this does not preclude major quarrels even in brigades that, judging from their social and kinship structure, theoretically provide the optimal preconditions for peaceful co-existence. The social structure of the core of brigada N° 9 mirrors the classic case - and yet, the two sides of the chom fell out with each other. There had already been some tension earlier, owing to the fact that POLINA had been the First Lady in the tent for several years, but was then superseded by TANIA (page 45). The hostilities culminated in 1996, when after a major quarrel POLINA, Iv AN and all the other people of that half moved out of the tent for several weeks (SASHA was living there in their stead, otherwise it would have been impossible for the brigade to continue). Things had improved since then, although personal antipathies were temporarily still palpable. As I have mentioned, the people of the right hand side of brigada N° 9 and those of the left hand side do not meet each other very frequently when they are in the village. It might be merely for the reason that the former live in Ust'-Usa and the latter in Novikbozh, although it does not take any real effort to get from one place to the other.- VASILII and his family have more contact with their relatives who work in brigada N° 10: these kinship ties seem more important for them. Similarly, ZHENIA's best friend in the tent is ONDRIUK (pp. 31, 131), but in Novikbozh, they rather keep their distance. What can be learnt from these examples is that social relations in the tundra are different from those in the village; people reconfigure them when they switch between the tundra and the village. A Komi reindeer-herding family has at least two household "bases", one in the village and one in the tent; while the tent always covers two households100, which comprise members of at least two families. The social structure of ~he chom is defined by some rather rigid principles and, nevertheless, a high degree of flexibility: the actual presence of those who are eligible to be in the tent depends on the workload (summer versus winter), 100 As lstomin (2000: 66) was told by one of the herders of "Izhemskii olenevod": "Chomys od kvk boka. Koimod b6kt6 nekytch6 on s 'uy ". ("A tent has two sides. A third side you cannot squeeze in anywhere"). The principle that each side functions as a single household is exemplified by the herders' and tent workers' amazement about IZHMA FED', who does not abide by this rule, always uses his own dishes, pot and kettle and consumes only the meat of his own deer. 134 absence of other duties (school, army etc.), transportation (ill luck with helicopters) and personal predilections (as illustrated by the Khatanzeiskii children). On the one hand, the tent community can be understood as a work unit: the two families are obliged to send some members to the tundra, not only on the grounds of the contract with the sovkhoz but also because one half of the tent cannot exist on its own (and therefore, Iv AN and POLINA had hardly any choice but to return to brigada N° 9). Privacy inside the tent is quite restricted (and therefore, sometimes V ASILII took TANIA with him when driving into the tundra). On the other hand, the tent community goes beyond the function of a work unit. Living in the chom is not all about work. For most of the inmates, it is a habit - or, as it is often asserted, a way of life (obraz zhizni). It entails a long-term symbiosis of a number of individuals, with comparatively few contacts with other people. If people who have reached pension age are nonetheless longing for the tundra ("tianet v tundru"), then it is because of the relative freedom, the regularity and yet impressiveness of this life-world. 7.4 Types of resources and the "economy of survival" The annual cycle of life and work in the tundra is complemented by the annual cycle of life and work in and around the village (see section 2.2 and chapter 3, page 42). The reason that these annual cycles manifest themselves so clearly in the everyday life of the families in Novikbozh (and elsewhere in the north of the Komi Republic) is that the villagers are occupied in activities highly dependent on the natural environment. In order to have access to resources such as potatoes, hay, milk, meat, fish, berries etc., every reindeer-herding family must decide how to "dispatch" its members in the various seasons. Other family members work in occupations yielding monetary income, such as working in the village shop, post office, school, oil company and such like. The payment, though, is not necessarily given in money but sometimes in kind: companies pay their employees in products. Pensions and other subsidies add to the monetary inc~me. All these material and monetary resources can be subsumed under economic capital. Additional resources are acquired in informal ways, through the place of work or other social networks, or, to use the common term in Russia, through blat (Ledeneva 1998). Such resources can be both material and non-material: the wood from abandoned oil wells, the metal rope that one has "obtained" (dostal) at the sovkhoz garage, the friends that help 135 to refurbish the house etc. Access to such additional resources is conditional on social capital (cf Lampland 2002: 35-36). We can also look at the Komi reindeer-herding family's livelihood from a slightly different angle: this approach examines the sectors of production rather than the types of resources as described above. In line with Elwert's "economies of survival" (1985), it can be stated that the sector of non-wage production ( or "subsistence production") is closely and necessarily intertwined with the sector of wage production ( or production of commodities). If the wage sector can no longer guarantee a stable livelihood - and this is exactly what has happened in most parts of Russia in the 1990s - the non-wage sector gains importance. For a Komi reindeer-herding family, reindeer husbandry fulfils the function of both non-wage and wage production; activities such as hay-making and fishing are closer to subsistence production; while employment at school, at the local shop etc. can be called wage production. Elwert implies that the distinction between the formal and the informal sector has little to do with that between wage and non-wage production (1985: 76, 79). From my point of view, what keeps non-wage and wage economy together in Russia's everyday life is exactly the informality of economic relations that can be found behind the formal fa9ade of an enterprise such as, in the present case, the former sovkhoz (see section 6.7: Konstantinov's crypto-entrepreneurship). And this very informality of economic relations is probably rooted in, or even tantamount to, a specific understanding of "private" and "public", which itself represents a continuum rather than a dichotomy (Humphrey 1998: 1). 7.5 Who wants to work in reindeer husbandry? The previous section has shown that the "survival" of a Komi reindeer-herding family rests on various persons tapping various resources. Komi reindeer-herding families generally try to position the various family members into different occupational spheres and social networks. In doing so, they seek to have access to as ~any resources as possible, to diversify their livelihood and make it flexible and adaptive to changing economic conditions. The question, then, is: of the various members of a family, who is willing and able to work as a herdsman or tent-worker? And are there any limitations on their number? 136 7. 5.1 How many people are required in the tundra? The number of official job appointments in the reindeer industry does not necessarily coincide with the actual number of people working and living together in the tent. In one enterprise, "Fion", reindeer-herding families lamented the management's intention to cut down on jobs, implying that people do want to· work in the tundra but the enterprise does not offer enough jobs. In fact, for a reindeer-herding enterprise the ratio between employees and head of reindeer has a direct impact on the budget. As a guideline issued by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Komi Republic, the ratio should be 350 deer per herdsman. The recommended herd size is 1,200 in the forest zone and 2,000 in the tundra zone. Consequently, a brigade should consist of six men and two women. Brigada N° 9 does not resemble such a standard brigade. In spring 1999, there were four "real" herders, three herders with insufficient work experience and three tent workers - all this work force for slightly more than 1,000 collective animals. Yet there was enough work to do to keep everybody busy: apart from the collective animals, there were also some 500 private ones. How should a reindeer-herding enterprise act in this situation? How many herdsmen and tent workers should they employ if, for instance, the herd consists of equal numbers of private and collective deer? There are indications that people who have lost their job stay in the tundra anyway. This relates not only to pensioners. I know one case where a herdsman who was sacked by his enterprise is still working and living together with his brothers employed by the enterprise. Notably, this brigade has a very high number of private deer. The mother of the brigadier (cf page 120) told me in an interview: "Now that people do hardly receive any money ... , more than once we suggested to them to come to the tundra and breed reindeer. But so far, nobody has decided to do so" (FM 58). In my interpretation, this brigade with more than 1,200 private reindeer needs some extra members of the work force that the enterprise would not be willing to provide. On the basis of these examples, it is possible to discern a first bundle of factors that determine how many people are actually required in reindeer.husbandry. These factors are: i) the social composition of a brigade ( or chom ); ii) the ratio between herders and animals; iii) the overall head of reindeer in the region; iv) the portion of private deer and v) the number of jobs provided by the reindeer-herding enterprises. The first two factors can be seen as the outcome of long-term development. Istomin (2000: 61) has shown that the average size of a brigade (six to eight herders and preferably two tent workers) is grounded in the pre-revolutionary practice of herding. One family 137 could not manage to provide a sufficient number of herdsmen for the typical herd size of 2,500 or more deer, but two families could well do so. This also explains the division of the tent into two halves. Regarding the social composition, transformations have been going on and I shall show below that more transformations may be expected. The animals/herders ratio is a rather stable factor, .it seems to me, because the basic herding techniques have not significantly changed. Having said that, the third factor - the overall head of reindeer - fluctuates considerably. In the north of the Komi Republic, it is slightly recessive; but nonetheless, in comparison to other regions in the north of the Russian Federation, the Komi Republic fares quite well (Jemsletten and Klokov 2002). The overall head of reindeer does not immediately have a bearing on the number of herdsmen and tent workers. Only if there is a clear tendency over a longer period, will the number of employees increase or decrease. Even so, there is a ceiling to the overall head of reindeer: carrying capacity. According to the experts of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Komi Republic, the existing pasture reserves are being used to almost their full extent; only the herders of "U st' -U sinskii" could significantly enlarge their herds (FM 128) 101 • The fourth factor - the portion of private deer - is steadily rising. In chapter 6, I have shown that the reindeer-herding families as well as the kontora members try to gain additional, "private" profits through their work for the enterprise. Particularly for the reindeer-herding families, a major resource in this endeavour is the private reindeer. But the portion of private deer cannot be pushed up to 100 per cent without structural change in the enterprise. The less resources the enterprise has, the less it can provide a platform for crypto-entrepreneurship. Moreover, it will be obliged to lower the wages and/or to get rid of employees (and this is the fifth factor) . An enterprise such as "Ust' -Usinskii" already operates on the brink of collapse: if the head of public reindeer diminishes even more, the administration may look at ways of abandoning it altogether. This could mean the rough track to privatisation, 7. 5.2 How profitable is work in reindeer husbandry? Generally, I contend that people are willing to work in reindeer husbandry only if it is profitable. Again, there is a bundle of important criteria, first and foremost the value of the 101 It should be noted that the last assessment of the pasture resources was made around 1960 - nowadays, many pasture areas have been taken over by the oil industry ( chapter 5) or abandoned by the herders for other reasons (section 4.5). Furthermore, the methods of assessing the pasture quality have changed. The Ministry has been envisaging a new assessment, but as of 1999, there has been no money for such measures. 138 product. I need not talk about meat prices here, as these are mentioned in appendix 9. Just to give the general picture, reindeer husbandry is in fact the most productive agricultural sector in the north of the Komi Republic. The main produce, meat, is sold mainly on the regional market. Recollecting the twofold importance of meat production as both market production and subsistence production, the val.ue of reindeer meat cannot be determined exclusively in monetary terms. It is also a resource that may be exchanged among kin and friends and used to accrue social, rather than economic, capital. In this sense, meat can be described as a manipulable resource as well as antlers (panty), yet there is a fine difference between these two things. Reindeer-herding families use meat in such acts of exchange within the village community, but they would not use panty. The realm of panty is one of market-oriented production and has little to do with subsistence or social capital. A further peculiarity of panty consists of the fluctuation of the price. From the point of view of an "economy of survival", panty are not the most reliable source of revenue. First and foremost, it is meat that provides for risk avoidance (Scott 1976: 48), for a secure environment (Sabev 2002: 21) and for participation in social networks, which is conditional on the institutions of exchange and sharing (Chabot 2003: 11-12). It is not impossible, though, to estimate a family's income from private reindeer. According to several interviews that Istomin 102 had with members of reindeer-herding families in Inta in early 2003, every private deer (not considering calves) gives about 2000 roubles a year on average (meat, antlers, and hides for processing into clothes and footwear). If the family owns some 30 private reindeer, they may expect to gain an annual income of about 60,000 roubles, which is already equivalent to the average income of Inta inhabitants (again, as of early 2003). Again, such calculations speak to the general assessment that reindeer-herding families are not among the poorest households in their community. And unlike the situation in the Kola Peninsula as analysed by Sabev (2002: 25), there is a certain market for products from reindeer husbandry in the north of the Komi Republic. Considering the additional income from private animals, one actually wonders why every family in the northern Komi villages does not have their own reindeer. In terms of "economy of survival", however, the question is also whether, and if, how many members of the household should work in reindeer husbandry: after all, someone has to stay in the village. The Khatanzeiskii families, as well as almost every other reindeer-herding family that I have met during my fieldwork, have at least one family member to look after their house, private plot etc. while the others are in the tundra. 139 Usually, these families have four or more children, hence in theory it is not too difficult to allocate family members to the two parts of the household. The call for a diversified household income must be seen in connection with job opportunities outside reindeer husbandry. Such job opportunities, in their tum, depend on the economic structure and development of the given region. The town provides for job diversity. Reindeer-herding families in Vorkuta, Inta, Ust'-Usa and Novikbozh put to use the advantage of being close to the district centre. However - and this is a major peripety of the story - as soon as a reindeer-herding village becomes connected with other places by an all-year road or railway and the travel time to the district centre melts down to two hours, the reindeer-herding enterprise starts facing a serious problem: young people will look for work outside the village. This has become a problem particularly for the enterprise "Ust'-Usinskii", as I was told by SHARIKOV: almost none of the young people in Ust'-Usa gives a damn anymore about reindeer herding. In contrast to "Ust'-Usinskii", the neighbouring sovkhoz "Sevemyi" seems to have no problems with recruiting young herdsmen. This may be partly because of its better economic performance as a reindeer-herding enterprise, but also by the fact that it takes at least a whole day to travel from the central village of "Sevemyi", Mutnyi Materik, to Usinsk, the district centre, unless the trip is made by helicopter. The deputy director of "Sevemyi" mentioned that comparatively few able-bodied persons emigrate from the village to town and explicitly related this observation to the transport situation (FM 132). Consequently, it seems that reindeer husbandry loses much of its attractivity if other job opportunities are available; and certainly it does if those other jobs are more profitable. Hence the advent and expansion of the oil industry is so salient: it is absorbing human resources not only from reindeer husbandry but also from all other agricultural branches, rom forestry, fishery, transportation, mining and so forth 103 • 7.5.3 Women Reindeer-herding communities are concerned about the lacl<: of women who want to work in the tundra. This is a problem common to the whole region and addressed by the managers in the enterprises as well as by the reindeer-herding families. Therefore, the question as to who wants to work in reindeer husbandry must be answered differently for each gender. Life in the tundra is apparently more attractive for men than for women. Over 102 I am grateful to Kirill Istomin, Syktyvkar, for this personal communication (16 March 2003). 140 the last decades, bachelorhood has become a topical issue in reindeer husbandry, not only in the north of European Russia but also all over Siberia and the Far East (Kwon 1997; Rethmann 2001; Vitebsky and Wolfe 2001 ). The fact that young women have become so reluctant to live and work in the tundra could be explained in the same way as it has been explained by researchers who work in regions other than the Komi Republic: the Soviet project of abandoning "nomadism as a way of life" (bytovoe kochevanie) in favour of "nomadism as a way of production" (proizvodstvennoe kochevanie) has led to a new pattern of gendered space: since the late 1950s, almost all women live and work in the village, while the men out there in the "wilderness" live a life of "enforced celibacy" (Vitebsky and Wolfe 2001: 86). However, as has been argued earlier in the present thesis, the Komi way of reindeer husbandry is the very one that served as a blueprint for "Soviet" reindeer husbandry (section 4.3.2). To have some members of the family working in reindeer husbandry and others working in and around the village was nothing new for Komi reindeer-herding families. In this aspect, the history of Komi reindeer husbandry differs considerably from that of the Nenets and other "numerically small peoples". Thus, although the explanation given above holds for the other reindeer-herding peoples of Russia, it is not satisfying in the Komi case. Even though the Komi reindeer-herding families were less affected by sedent- arisation programmes and resettlement actions as other reindeer-herding- peoples, they nonetheless have acquired certain notions of "culture" and "civilisation" through Soviet education, like the representatives of all other nationalities in Russia. This leads me back to the symbolic function of school and other "cultural" institutions as described in section 3.2: to promote the values of culture and civilisation that are still rooted in Soviet tenets of modernisation and beaux arts. The reindeer herders' tent is at the bottom end of "cul- turedness". As Vitebsky and Wolfe have put it: "There is a scale from wild, or uncouth, to civilized ... This scale is mapped out across the face of the earth, along a continuum from wilderness, through the village, the various provincial towns and the city ... " (2001: 90; cf Rethmann 2001: 111-112 and 134 ). As in the Soviet past, the sphere of "culture" is mainly occupied by women: they dominate the collectives of teachers at school, the staff of the "Houses of Culture" and the local libraries 1°4• It has been argued that woinen either choose 103 Cf page 176. I have come to this conclusion on the basis of the results of my fieldwork for the SPICE Project in early 2002 (cf Kuhry and Soppela 2000). 104 Women also work in intermediate positions in the local economy and administration: as shop assistants, as sovkhoz bookkeepers, in the village council etc. In this respect, villages such as Novikbozh and Ust'- 141 to utilise this gender role in order to raise their social status and that of their children (ibid.) , or at least they try to accommodate to this gender role and the expectations ensuing from it ( cf Bloch 1996). Kwon reports that the in the Sakhalin settlement where he carried out his fieldwork, the Dom kul 'tury was being used by the reindeer herders' women to find shelter in those situations when their men, the herders, turned up in the settlement after a long period of absence, and got totally drunk (1997: 149). In this example, the sphere of "culture" serves as a stronghold against the "unculturedness" that comes to visit from the forest. More than once, IRINA and her cousins ANIA, ROZA and KA TIA made clear that none of them has any interest in becoming a tent-worker, even though they descend from reindeer-herding families. After she had arrived for her summer holidays at the camp, I asked IRINA: "Are you glad to be here in the tent?" She replied: "Well, it's nice the first three or four days. Then it gets boring. Always the same, you know". She spent a good deal of time every morning and evening renewing her make-up, a new feature in the everyday life of the brigada, and TONIA, her best friend, began to take part in this. With IRINA, a spirit of culturedness arrived at the tent. (The immediate effect on me was that I started to shave again). What she has in mind when thinking about her own future hardly matches with the practice of living in the tundra: she wants to leave the village and find a better life in town. ANIA has already made this step: being married to a Russian, she is now considering moving to a town in the central part of the Komi Republic. For women like IRINA, ANIA, ROZA and KA TIA, the escape from the village is a strategy that can be interpreted in terms of "economy of survival", as an attempt at social mobility. Again, this endeavour exists not only among Komi women; it is typical for many remote parts of the Russian North. Speaking about marriages between Even women and Sakha or Russian men, Vitebsky and Wolfe note "[t]hese women are advancing themselves and the prospects of their children" (2001 : 92). And when Evenki men on Sakhalin complain that "our girls go wild" (Kwon 1997: 153-158), they express their concern about Evenki won:ien' s preference for Russians, Ukrainians and other "outsiders" as marriage partners. From an Evenki woman's per- spective, though, such a marriage may be rooted in the desire "to live a cultured life". Usa fully support the thesis "that though many administrative posts ... are held by women, especially in what we have called the professionalized or collectivized caring roles ... , nonetheless the key posts involving political or fiscal control are held largely ... by men" (Vitebsky and Wolfe 2001: 91). 142 From a slightly different angle, we may propose with Pine (2002) that in socialist societies, women sought to attain individual autonomy through their employment in the public sector, as opposed to the domestic and agricultural sphere, where they were more likely to be socially invisible. Drawing on her research in Poland, Pine states "[t]he reciprocal obligations of kinship might provide the moral core of relatedness, but they are also the ties that bind. In their work relations and activities in the state sector women were able to realize a kind of individual value that transcended, without excluding, the prescriptions of kinship and gender located in the domestic domain" (Pine 2002: 103). To start or resume working in agriculture is like "being pushed back into what seemed to them to be the past" (ibid., 100). This notion of backwardness is one of the central concerns of chapter 8. There is one more slant to the unwillingness of young women to take up a job in the reindeer-herding brigade. It is the gendered space in and around the tent (section 2.1). "To a considerable extent this sense of a concentric gendered space around the tent still holds - except that there are hardly any women at the centre to do the women's job" (Vitebsky and Wolfe 2001: 84). So far, the situation in the Komi reindeer-herding brigades is not as problematic as in the brigades in eastern Siberia, but a tendency towards men-only brigades can also be discerned in the north of European Russia. In the brigades that I stayed with, the temporary lack of tent workers was compensated by recruiting young men (less experienced herders) for household work. However, these young lads were not too happy to stay in the tent - their prime interest was to work "out there". Considering that the women in brigade N° 9 complained: "We too would like to drive around like the men" (page 35), the task of tent-keeping seems rather unattractive for both sexes. Life in the tundra is hard for women as well as for men, but only the men have a chance to roam around and enjoy the "freedom" and the "romance" of it. In other words, for the women "freedom" and "romance" are spatially limited. This idea is present not only in academic literature but also among some of the Komi villagers I interviewed: "For the men, it is a kind of ro~ance (romantika), while the women are busy with the more boring part of the work" (FM 63), as a male villager said. In most cases, however, the informants connected the unwillingness of women to work and live in the tent with the recent deterioration of supplies and amenities (pp. 115-116). One might suppose that these shortcomings affect men as well as women, and there is certainly much to this argument. Yet in the implicit interpretation of many interviewees, women suffer more from this kind of hardship. Again, this thought sheds light on gender roles and 143 the concept of "culture": the tent as an inherently "uncultured" place is becoming even more "uncultured" through the lack of amenities, and therefore an environment unsuitable for the "fair sex" (nezhnyi po[). The men are considered to be "tough" and to adapt more easily to the hard conditions of tundra life. 7.5.4 Men When looking at the willingness of young men to work as reindeer herders, a good starting point is the statement that herders do their work "partly because someone still has to, partly because some of them like the sense of freedom, and partly because they do not have anywhere else to go" (Vitebsky and Wolfe 2001: 82). These three "rationales" often coincide. This will be illustrated by the personal situations of the young herdsmen in brigades N°5 9 and 10. ZHENIA as the heir of his father's reindeer has to do the herding work; he is the main "bread-winner" (kormilets) of his family. By the same token, he certainly enjoys the freedom of tundra life. So does ONDRIUK, but his case is different. In Novikbozh, he has attained a bad reputation as a petty criminal, and when in February 1999 he stole some goods from a lorry and was searched by the police, he escaped to his brigade's tent by snow-scooter (the tent was only 25 kilometres away from the village). V AN'KO no doubt will become a reindeer herder, and everybody in the family expects him to do so. His strong aversion to school is both an indication of his choice and a limiting factor should he ever change his mind. SASHA's case looks even more difficult: his father and the other people in the brigade accuse him of being lazy and good for nothing, but considering his illiteracy and officially acknowledged invalidity, the most useful support he can provide to his family is to help out in the tundra, where he likes to be anyway. LESHA also had difficulties in finding a job in his native village south ofUst'-Usa, thus his parents decided to let him work with his distant relatives and to resume the family's engagement in reindeer husbandry (his grandfather worked in the tent but his parents never did). It has often been argued that reindeer herders have a low level of school education - a statement that I wish to scrutinise here. On one hand, among Komi reindeer herders, the degree of school education has supposedly been higher than among herdsmen of other nationalities (Istomin 2000: 51). On the other hand, I have met many younger herders who did not finish high-school (sredniaia shkola), which means they left school before the end of the eighth class. Considering the biographies of SASHA and LESHA, one may in fact conclude that reindeer herding is an occupational option in particular for those boys that, in 144 educational terms, "do not have anywhere else to go". As a village teacher stated: "In reindeer husbandry, you find people who did not excel at school. Once they have finished their army service, they hang out in the village for a while, but finally they have no other choice than to go to the tundra" (FM 21 ). If it is sometimes said that learning difficulties are the cause and taking up a job as herdsman is the result, others reverse this statement, saying that the child's belonging to a reindeer-herding family is the cause and poor performance at school the result - not always, of course, but more often than not. When I asked a teacher in Ust'-Usa how to explain this phenomenon, she made four suggestions: most brigades have neither television nor radio; the parents are not very talkative with their children; children who grew up in the tundra have difficulties in getting used to village life; and finally, Komi is the predominant language in the tent, therefore these children have a weak command of the Russian language and feel ashamed and are shy in the presence of their village fellow pupils who speak Russian much better. Children of reindeer-herding families have serious problems in the first class, afterwards they usually get better (FM 83)105. To make my point clear, I have to dwell for a moment on "school" pedagogy. It is true that the level of education in Russia was high, and it still is, perhaps higher than in most Western European countries. I would not be amazed to receive statistically proven evidence that among all reindeer herders of Russia, there is a higher percentage of people who have read Dostoevskii as well as Heine than among students in humanities at German universities. It is also true that since about 1990, the curricula in schools in Komi and all over Russia have put more emphasis on regional history and the "traditional" ways of life of the local ethnic population, than before (Fryer 1999, cf Fondahl 1998: 124-5). I shall discuss this in chapter 8. However, school education in the Komi Republic and other regions of Russia is still overly committed to kul 'tura in the sense of "high culture" and the Soviet concept of modernisation ( section 3 .2). While I attended and assisted in a lesson in the German language at a local school, I marvelled at the teacher' s rather fruitless attempts to make the boys and girls, aged around 14, say the sentence_ "Unsere Republik Komi ist eine entwickelte lndustrierepublik im Bestand der Russischen Foderation" ("Our Republic of Komi is an industrially developed republic within the structure of the Russian 105 However, as most reindeer-herding families have their house in Novikbozh and only few of them live in Ust'-Usa, the majority of these children attend elementary school in Novikbozh. In Ust' -Usa children mostly talk to each other in Russian, whereas in Novikbozh they speak Russian during the lessons and the local Komi vernacular in the school-yard. In the elementary and high schools, there are lessons in the Komi language and literature and children are urged to use the literary Komi language (cf pp. 42-43). 145 Federation"). However, none of the pupils could say anything in German about bears or cows, rivers or forests, snowmobiles or ice fishing, although these are central elements in their everyday conversation. Those few things in the school ofUst'-Usa that represent life in the tundra are stored behind glass - they do not have any practical use, neither for VAN'Ko nor for any other pupil. When I said in chapter 3 that children like VAN'KO challenge or even undermine the central tenets of school, notably kul 'tura and tsivilizatsiia, then it is for the reason that V AN'KO can hardly expect anything from school for his future career as a herdsman. What he seeks is not school pedagogy but a kind of knowledge and experience that he gains in the tent. As long as reindeer husbandry is associated with the notions of "uncouth" and "uncivilised", those boys gifted to work in the forest or tundra will continue to show a "poor performance" at school, while the girls will continue to find themselves unintention- ally in a more advantageous position: as representatives of the "fair sex", they are deemed more susceptible to the project of enculturation, civilisation and modernisation (Vitebsky and Wolfe 2001: 83-4). To put it starkly, the existing gender roles in the village are implicitly perpetuated by school education (although not only by school education). These gender roles, in connection with the division of labour among the genders in reindeer husbandry and the gendered aspects of "romance", make life in the tundra quite unattractive for women - at least more unattractive for women than for men. From here, it is but a small step to the concern expressed everywhere that there is a lack of tent workers and that young herdsmen have difficulties in finding a wife. It is often argued that in their frustration about their enforced bachelorhood, many young herders are prone to hit the bottle. Of course, this reduces the chance of finding a marriage partner even further, but I think there is more to this. It seems that the absence of a tent-worker removes a certain kind of social control within the brigade. If a reindeer herder enjoys the "freedom" of the tundra, and is anyway perceived as uncouth by his fellow villagers, why should he not also indulge in the freedo~ of drinking whenever and wherever possible? One of my interviewees, a pensioner in Kharuta came up with the ironical remark: "That the herdsmen do not want to marry is already a quite old story, it has been like that for more than thirty years. They don't need a wife. Their wife is the bottle (Im nikakaia zhena ne nuzhna. Ikh zhena - butylka)" (FM 26). Similarly, Kwon quotes an informant on the island of Sakhalin who complains about the intention of young 146 men to become reindeer herders. Their ultimate reason for going into reindeer herding is because there "they can fool around freely" (Kwon 1997: 148). The "sense of freedom" may sometimes be interpreted as the unwillingness of a young man to put up with the social role and responsibilities as expected by the village community. In other words, some of the men may become reindeer herders because they do not want to marry, or because they do not see themselves as eligible for marriage owing to a personal fate perceived as tragic. SASHA seems to be one of these "losers": he is said to be lazy and stupid, mentally retarded and unpredictably violent. He has no reason to stay in the village, as he explained himself, and there is always enough meat in the tundra. I have also met a few herdsmen who resorted both physically and mentally to the tundra after divorce. IZHMA FED' also came to the tundra after some worrying experience which he has been trying to forget. One may muse on the idea of the tundra as a domain of escape from ideology and ideological norms (cf page 71). Yurchak (1997: 185) suggests that in Soviet society certain jobs, such as watchman or street sweeper, minimised involvement in the official sphere. In that sense, the tundra can be imagined as a place almost devoid of ideology. Put shortly, the tundra may provide an escape for those men who want to abandon their community and social network. But only in some cases, because a brigade will not simply accept any weirdo as a member. Nor will the management of the enterprise give their approval. In the next section we shall see that the ranks of those actually entitled to live and work in the tundra are quite small. 7.6 Who is capable and entitled to work in reindeer husbandry? LESHA's difficulties to become accepted as a "real" herdsman by the rest of the brigade point to the issue of genealogy amongst reindeer herders and the continuity apparently necessary for the mediation of skills and knowledge (cf page 14). Even though his parents may have had the idea that for LESHA the future lies in reindeer herding, his tent-mates did not think so straight away. The link to reindeer husbandry is tm:ough his grandfather only, not through his parents. More than once I have heard people saying: "Only those whose parents are working in reindeer husbandry can become reindeer herders themselves". There are exceptions to this rule, as we shall see, but what I grasp from this statement is that those individuals who, as children, spent a considerable time with their relatives in the tent have better preconditions for working as a herdsman or tent-worker than those who have not had this experience at an early stage of life. Learning the skills that a herder or tent- 147 worker needs takes many years and becomes easier if the process staits in childhood. This is what ZHENIA meant when he told me "five or even ten years of life in the tundra are necessary to understand really what it means to be a herdsman". "To understand really what it means to be a herdsman" is that exclusive property of experience, of knowing the tundra. Understanding the tundra and being able to interact with the animals and the land is the very essence of the reindeer herders' professional ethos. The Komi have a word for this. More than once, I witnessed that a "real" reindeer herder - "somebody who knows the tundra" - is called yaran by the Komi villagers. To remind the reader, yaran is also the nickname OLEG proudly took after a long period of working as a reindeer veterinarian in the tundra (page 50). But at the same time, yaran is the Komi word for Nenets (page 67). The highly conspicuous inference: for the Komi, the most experienced reindeer herders are Nenets. We have seen in the historical analysis that the Komi learnt reindeer herding from the Nenets, but then adapted and improved it and transformed it into a market-oriented business, as the Komi themselves like to point out. While the Komi imply their superiority in terms of the reindeer business, they also imply the superiority of the Nenets in the actual practice of herding. To put it extremely starkly, one may contend that the Komi perceive their role in reindeer husbandry as modem, and the role of the Nenets as traditional. Even if this interpretation is exaggerated, the double meaning of the word yaran has several consequences for the analysis of self-perception and the discourse about "tradition" ( chapter 8). For a moment, let us dwell on the notion of understanding, learning and knowing. The opposite of yaran is yando. People use this word to signify a man who has not (yet) really understood. In the Komi-Russian dictionary it is translated as "novice at reindeer husbandry" (novichok v olenevodstve). However, in the Komi language the word appears to be etymologically related to yan ("[personal] shortcoming, sin"), yandzim ("shame"), yanavny ("to disgrace .oneself', "to be embarrassed", "to be confused")106• In fact, the reindeer herders always use yando as a sort of admonition or malicious remark. Being a yando has nothing to do with age: when I heard this expressio~ for the first time it related to an elderly man who has been officially employed as a herdsman for many years but has so little experience with herding that he actually serves as a tent-worker (chum-rabotnik) . 106 Beznosikova, Aibabina and Kosnyreva 2000: 783. An initial etymology from Nenets rather than Komi is possible but does not have the same meaning, nor does it evoke the connotations listed here, cf Lehtisalo (1956: 99). I am grateful to Tapani Salminen, Helsinki, for several personal communications about the Nenets language. 148 My personal translation for yando is therefore "greenhorn". LESHA was very frequently called a greenhorn. The situation that I remember best is when he had to tie up a sledge with felled trees on top of it. Depending on the type of sledge and the material stored on it, there are various ways of doing this. Poor LESHA had already learnt one of them, only to realise that different conditions call for different solutions. L YZHASA ANDREI showed and told him how to do it correctly. There is a specific kind of pedagogy in reindeer husbandry. I shall call it "tundra pedagogy", as opposed to "school pedagogy", and in allusion to Anderson's "Evenki pedagogy" (2000: 33-37; cf Ingold 2000: 37, 147; Kwon 1997: 147-148; Ssorin-Chaikov 1998: 240-247). Leaming is a process of close observation and gathering practical experience. Many lessons cannot be expressed in words because skills are mediated through repetition. It does not make sense to put knowledge down on paper because it is highly dependent on the given situation. Anderson notes "in an unpredictable Arctic environment, the most dangerous attribute that one can develop is the arrogance that there is a single authoritative answer to a given problem. Thus, the Evenki pedagogy is designed to develop a cautious self-reliance. The ceaseless insults that elders heap upon the young encourage humility, a knack for understanding through empathy, and an eye for the subtleties of context. In this manner, each person discovers his own method of thinking through a problem instead of mimicking a procedure by rote" (2000: 35). Kinship is highly important in this mode of pedagogy. Without going into detail, my observation is that the social relation between uncle and nephew is more conducive to this kind of learning than the social relation between father and son. Although this is a very tentative hypothesis, I see some evidence in Anderson's remark that skills are "taught by older kin to younger kinsmen (most often uncles to nephews)" (ibid.: 26-7). The relationship between apprentice and teacher should by any means be one of kinship (Kwon 1997: 147; Ssorin-Chaikov 1998: 238), even if "constructed" or "actualised" via various kin twice or thrice removed, or perhaps altogether fictional. ZHEN'KO addresses VASILII as "Uncle Vasia" (Diadia Yasia) although he would have difficulty telling how he is related to the tent senior. I have shown above that social networks in the villages extend beyond kinship; however, in order to become involved in reindeer husbandry, kinship is an essential element, at least in the northeastern part of European Russia and under the present conditions. This is due not only to the presence of private reindeer (usually inherited from father to one or more sons) but also to the necessity of looking after the stock of the reindeer-herding enterprise. "Those few who hold the knowledge of reindeer pastoralism de facto inherit the reindeer since both the herders and the farm require individuals 149 ----- - - --------- ----1·7"1 interested in 'feeding the village"' (Anderson 2000: 27). Indeed, the management of the sovkhoz has little influence when it comes to determining who is entitled to live in the chom. For kinship is the overriding factor in such decisions. However, this does not imply that an outsider can never be integrated into reindeer husbandry. Integration can best be achieved through marriage. These are rare cases, yet they document that reindeer husbandry is not "naturally" or "genetically" restricted to the Komi, Nenets, Saami or other indigenous peoples. The following example from Petrun' is quite well known: two reindeer-herding brothers married two Russian veterinary surgeons. The caption on the family photograph in the local museum's exhibition of "dynasties of reindeer herders" explains that the two women "came as trainees from the College of Agriculture, they liked the tundra and so they stayed" (FM 70). Some years later, one couple split up again. However, after the divorce this woman married the brothers' cousin. The two Russian sisters work as tent workers in the two sides of the same tent. Among the reindeer-herding brigades of the Komi Republic, few individuals have a nationality other than Komi, Nenets or Khanty. Quite different is the situation on the Kola Peninsula. "There is a great ethnic variety not only ... of the whole peninsula but even in each herding brigade in the tundra as well. There are Saami, Komi, N enets, and even Russian, Tatars and Ukrainians in the brigades" (Sabev 1999). The author of these lines then continues: "I've hardly witnessed any particular 'lmowledge' specific for one of these ethnic groups in the way to make difference (in terms of 'identity') against other groups. There is rather a kind of common, 'mixed' lmowledge, typical for the given area. The difference is more [apparent] between tundra- located people and the urban-centred population than between indigenous and non-indigenous groups of herders" (ibid). To conclude, the talent of reindeer herding is not "in the genes" and the knowledge and skills necessary for being a successful herdsman are not transferred along the lines of ethnicity. From the discussion of the term yaran, we learn that it is rather the other way round: you become a real yaran (1. Nenets; 2. experienced herdsman) only through your long-term and successful engagement in herding. Having said that, there must be some form of direct training from one generation to the next one. Even if there are "newcomers" to a reindeer-herding team, at least part of this team must have long experience in the herding business and life in the tundra. In other words, at least some of the members of the team must have stayed in the tent during their childhood, otherwise the chain of trans- mission of practical skills and dynamic knowledge by the virtue of "tundra pedagogy" is likely to be interrupted. Kinship is important because it is the most obvious mechanism 150 (although perhaps not the only one) to facilitate the "shift" of skills, knowledge and thereby the capability to work as a herdsman. In this chapter I have sought to explain two key questions in Komi reindeer husbandry: firstly, how reindeer-herding families try to make ends meet - my argument is that families try to place their members into various occupational spheres in order to tap a variety of resources. Secondly, how many people work in reindeer husbandry, how many are needed, how many want to work as herders and tent workers and how many are capable and eligible to do so. These questions must be answered for each gender separately. With regard to the men, a short and practical explanation is the one given by Vitebsky and Wolfe (see above, page 144): partly they work and live as herders because they like the relative freedom of the tundra; partly they do it because they have hardly any opportunity to work in other occupations; and partly they do it simply out of necessity - there are reindeer "out there" and someone has to herd them. However, in my opinion Vitebsky and Wolfe's formulation that " someone still has to" (2001: 82, emphasis added) sounds too pessimistic, judging from the situation of reindeer husbandry in European Russia. Moreover, my impression is that also in the future there will be some young men going to the tundra, even without women. Even if the tenets about "culture" and "civilisation" deter women from life in the tundra, I contend that at least the men may use it as that kind of gendered space where they exert agency beyond the ties that bind inside the village community (Pine 2002). In this sense, the tundra might turn into a workspace shared by male workers only ( oil workers as well as reindeer herders). The construction of the tundra as an "uncivilised" place of no interest to women (Vitebsky and Wolfe 2001) looks like a self-fulfilling prophecy. In the next chapter we shall see that a major problem of Komi reindeer husbandry lies in the circumstance that it is constructed by outsiders according to their perceptions about the tundra, about reindeer herding and how it should be, but hardly by the members of the reindeer-herding families themselves. 151 (although perhaps not the only one) to facilitate the "shift" of skills, knowledge and thereby the capability to work as a herdsman. In this chapter I have sought to explain two key questions m Komi reindeer husbandry: firstly, how reindeer-herding families try to make ends meet - my argument is that families try to place their members into variolJS occupational spheres in order to tap a variety of resources. Secondly, how many people work in reindeer husbandry, how many are needed, how many want to work as herders and tent workers and how many are capable and eligible to do so. These questions must be answered for each gender separately. With regard to the men, a short and practical explanation is the one given by Vitebsky and Wolfe (see above, page 144): partly they work and live as herders because they like the relative freedom of the tundra; partly they do it because they have hardly any opportunity to work in other occupations; and partly they do it simply out of necessity - there are reindeer "out there" and someone has to herd them. However, in my opinion Vitebsky and Wolfe's formulation that" someone still has to" (2001: 82, emphasis added) sounds too pessimistic, judging from the situation of reindeer husbandry in European Russia. Moreover, my impression is that also in the future there will be some young men going to the tundra, even without women. Even if the tenets about "culture" and "civilisation" deter women from life in the tundra, I contend that at least the men may use it as that kind of gendered space where they exert agency beyond the ties that bind inside the village community (Pine 2002). In this sense, the tundra might turn into a workspace shared by male workers only (oil workers as well as reindeer herders). The construction of the tundra as an "uncivilised" place of no interest to women (Vitebsky and Wolfe 2001) looks like a self-fulfilling prophecy. In the next chapter we shall see that a major problem of Komi reindeer husbandry lies in the circumstance that it is constructed by outsiders according to their perceptions about the tundra, about reindeer herding and how it should be, but hardly by the members of the reindeer-herding families themselves. 151 I I Chapter 8 Image and the concept of tradition In previous chapters I have examined the practice of Komi reindeer herding from various perspectives, focusing on particular domains and key resources. In the present chapter, not the practice, but the image of Komi reindeer herding is at centre stage. Image itself is a resource: it may be defined as the ultimate symbolic capital. With regard to domains, this chapter provides a synthesis of the brigada and kontora, the village community and the town; but it also transcends these domains and takes the analysis to places where there are no reindeer at all. The story moves from the centres of the reindeer herders' and tent workers life-world to the centres of power. In what follows, I shall look at the political and institutional context wherein Komi reindeer herding is embedded, and the discourse that evolves around it. How do the reindeer herders see themselves? Who forms the policies and the images of Komi reindeer husbandry? As a tool for analysis, I am looking at two central paradigms'07 in the discourse about reindeer husbandry: the first has a markedly agro-industrial flavour, the second stresses the importance of tradition. Let me briefly introduce these two paradigms. The agro-industrial paradigm, as I call it, may be characterised by its constantly recurring references to rationality and productivity. It is the language pertaining to the "open-air factory floor", the realm of technocratic phrases like "meat production divided by the head of deer as of January" and "unproductive losses" 108• I have chosen this name based on an interview published in a Komi newspaper under the heading "Reindeer husbandry keeps being the most productive branch of the agro-industrial complex of the North" (Nosova 1997). Such messages assert implicitly that reindeer husbandry is a modem business. The traditionalist paradigm, on the contrary, emphasises the identity of Komi reindeer husbandry as something old, and non- modem. It does so in either a negative or a positive sense. The negative version portrays reindeer herding as backward, whereas the positive version appreciates reindeer herding because of its genuineness. 107 To avoid confusion, I want to add that I see discourse as the top level, paradigm as a common pattern of argumentation within the discourse, and concept as the argumentative cornerstone within the paradigm. ' 08 In section 4.3 .2 and appendix 4, I show that the Russian scientist Kertselli (1869-1935) played a major part in the development of this paradigm, with his espousal of Komi reindeer husbandry as a model for the industrialisation of Soviet reindeer husbandry. 152 1 II Of course, one can conceive of many other paradigms, which I do not examine here 109• Reindeer husbandry has multiple facets and can be described from many different vantage points, which do not necessarily exclude each other. Rather, my aim is to show who uses which of these two paradigms, to what extent, and the changes in the usage over the last decades (section 8.2): in the Komi Republic of the 1990s, we can identify a growing emphasis on the traditionalist paradigm. In sections 8.3 and 8.4, I shall critically analyse the traditionalist paradigm and ask how the concept of tradition is used as symbolic capital. Neither the reindeer herders nor their family members explicitly speak about tradition. Reindeer herders tend to describe their identity in terms of experience, knowing the land, adaptability and endurance (section 8.1). I shall argue at the end of this chapter that, beyond the question of whether "tradition" as a discursive resource is conducive or counter-productive to the promoting of reindeer husbandry in the Komi Republic, there is a more important point: it is not the reindeer herders and tent workers who have control of their own image. Their image is created and negotiated by external actors. 8.1 Komi reindeer herders' self-perception and representation How do the reindeer herders perceive themselves? How do they speak about their image? In my opinion, their self-perception is in terms of endurance and experience. My stay with brigada N° 9 gave me the impression that reindeer herders and tent workers often see their lives in the tundra as a kind of noble torment, as a struggle against the elements. One member of the brigade was keen to show me his scars in order to emphasise the physical suffering he had undergone, others proudly demonstrated their ability to handle certain situations that less experienced members found difficult to cope with. One example ofsuch adversarial relations is LESHA's attitude towards a wooden log that withstood the force of his axe. "Yesli ne mozhesh ', nauchim tebia!" he said in Russian - "If you can't, we'll teach you", which can be interpreted i.n two ways: if you [the log] cannot [split], we will teach you; or: if you [the young herdsman] are not able, we [the older ones] will teach you. LESHA's confrontation with the log mirrors his confrontation with the experienced herders and the tent workers who will scold him if he fails to do his 109 For example, the concept of "sustainable development" is emerging as another important issue in the discourse on reindeer husbandry, but a detailed discussion of it would exceed the purpose of the present thesis. CJ Beach (2001: 236-238). 153 ,I I work. The log symbolises the adverse social situation he sees himself in. Here, the engagement with the environment (Ingold 2000) turns out to be a confrontation with the natural as well as the social environment. With growing experience, the herder gains composure. Generally, the older a herder, the less he complains about the trifles of life. The frequent use of abusive language that I came across in the reindeer herders' camp can also be an "adaptive strategy" in a harsh natural (and sometimes social) environment. The herders and tent workers leave no doubt that their environment is harsh indeed. VASILII complained about his clammy, rheumatic fingers due to frequent work with the axe in a cold climate. People I met in the various villages often emphasised that life is tough in the North, especially in the tundra. In addition, most village inhabitants would agree with the statement that the reindeer herders are the toughest ones. Certainly, the herders do not feel very uncomfortable with this image. To be tough is part and parcel of the reindeer herders' ethos. Indeed, herders and tent workers have to cope with quite exceptional conditions. It may happen that a tent worker has to travel several days from the village to the camp, or that a herdsman must spend the night outside in a snowstorm, using his sledge as a wind- shelter and sleeping in his malitsa. Such cases make me think that beyond the feelings of struggle against the elements, the brigada people have a good deal of confidence in their own abilities, even in situations where others would panic. They trust their experience and their flexibility. In section 7.6 we have seen that "knowing the tundra" is an exclusive property that reindeer herders gain only through several years of training. Intuition and flexibility in the application of such knowledge and skills are the basis of the reindeer herders' pride. Importantly, the two paradigms that I have outlined above are almost absent in the everyday communication of Komi reindeer herders with each other and with other members of the village_ community, including those working in the kontora. They hardly ever speak about productivity, rational herd management and modernisation. Even less do they use the traditionalist paradigm. In fact, I have never heard-a reindeer herder or a tent- worker using the word "tradition" or "traditional" in the camp, and hardly ever in the village. Below, I shall analyse the traditionalist paradigm and discern various strands that confer symbolic value on the concept of "tradition" (section 8.4): one of these elements is the emphasis on continuity of an activity in one's life, and even over several generations of ancestors and successors. If the perception of Komi reindeer herders has anything that relates to the traditionalist paradigm, then it is this emphasis on continuity. 154 8.2 More voices in the discourse about Komi reindeer herding Now we shall gradually move away from the reindeer herders' camps and villages, examine how other people talk and think of reindeer herders. Before we can look into the question of how the two paradigms characterised above are used in the discourse about Komi reindeer husbandry, we must identify the institutions wherein people apply the discourse and negotiate the symbolic function of reindeer husbandry. Apart from the brigada and the reindeer-herding families, these institutions are: the kontora; the village administration; agricultural officials and the administration and government in general ( at district, republican and federal level); the ethnic organisation of the Izhma Komi, lz 'vatas; the ethnic organisations of the Komi in general; the Association of the Numerically Small Peoples of the North (RAIPON); the Association of World Reindeer Herders (AWRH); and international non-governmental organisations. Last, but not least, academia, educational institutions and the media play a salient role in the formulation of positions on reindeer husbandry. Representatives of all the institutions listed above engage in this discourse, yet they do so in different ways. In each of the spheres and institutions, both the agro-industrial and the traditionalist paradigm exist in discourse, but the balance between the two varies. The present chapter is an attempt to discuss the voices of various actors in the discourse on reindeer herding, but it would be beyond the scope of the thesis to discuss each of them. Here I shall limit myself on the administrative sphere, the ethnic organisations and the Association of World Reindeer Herders. The role of educational institutions in the discourse on reindeer husbandry has been discussed in sections 3.2 and 7.5; the role of academics will be exemplified later in the present chapter (page 165). In the Russian Federation as well as in other countries, reindeer husbandry is mainly administered by Dep~ments or Ministries of Agriculture. This is also the case in the Komi Republic. It is here that the agro-industrialist paradigm is at home. The responsible officials in Usinsk and Syktyvkar act as an interface between reindeer herders and politicians in the parliament and government of the Komi Republic. These officials usually know the interests of reindeer-herding families and those of the leading managers in the kontora, as well as the corridors of power in the district and republican administration. It is their responsibility to translate and negotiate between the two sides, and they take part in the formulation of political tenets about reindeer husbandry. In a way, the managers of the reindeer-herding enterprises themselves are part of this sphere. They are interested in and forced to present good production figures, and the Ministry of Agriculture and the 155 corresponding district departments express the value of reindeer husbandry by these figures . Thus, the attitude towards reindeer husbandry in this sphere is seemingly characterised by strictly economic considerations. Like other industries, agriculture in general and reindeer husbandry in particular should be improved by constantly raising its productivity (cf page 117). The agro-industrial. paradigm dominated the discourse on reindeer husbandry and agriculture in general throughout the Soviet period, from the 1930s to the 1980s. However, it was challenged in the early 1990s, when the government started its privatisation policy and thereby withdrew the moral justification for the existence of state and collective farms. At the same time, the rhetoric within the sphere of these institutions also includes ideas of reindeer herding as a way of life and, less frequently, reindeer herding as a traditional way of life. This can be documented by various sources. When BEZUMOV and Krug, two officers of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Komi Republic, and PASYNKOV, the director of the reindeer-herding enterprise in Vorkuta, took part in an international conference in 1997, their paper started with the words: "Reindeer herding as a traditional and basic branch of agriculture among many northern peoples .. .''110• Additional examples of the use of the concept of tradition by agricultural officials are the recently developed programmes for the development of reindeer husbandry in the Komi Republic. These programmes are designed by the Ministry of Agriculture, then approved and largely financed by the Head of the Komi Republic. The "Programme for the development of rein- deer husbandry in the Komi Republic and the social protection of the population working in this sector, 1998- 2001 " (Programma razvitiia ... 1998) employs a twofold rhetoric: in its introduction, it draws on the value ofreindeer husbandry as a "traditional way oflife of the indigenous peoples in the northern districts of the Komi Republic", yet as becomes transparent in the rest of the programme, it envisages the development of reindeer husbandry first and foremost by raising its economic productivity111 • Generally, those speakers who have a practical background in reindeer herding (by their own work or through their relatives) speak about the nec~ssity of improving material supplies for reindeer-herding families (page 115) and frequently mention social and health issues. 110 (Severnoe olenevodstvo kak traditsionnaia i osnovnaia otrasl' sel 'skogo khoziaistva mnogikh severnykh narodov ... ) (Krug, Bezumov and Pasynkov 1997: I). Reindeer herding was also considered as "a way of life" in the speeches of some of the directors of Komi reindeer-herding enterprises present at the meeting with Bezumov in Inta on 19 March 1999 (page IO I). 11 1 Investments in the social sphere of northern communities and in research on the state of reindeer pastures and historical patterns ofreindeer husbandry are also included in the programme. 156 Statements to the effect that reindeer herding has something to do with traditions are heard comparatively seldom among kontora managers and administrators in the departments of agriculture. In section 8.3, I shall explain my supposition that the notion of tradition has entered the discourse of the agricultural administrators fairly recently, but its importance is currently growing fast. Now I shall analyse attitudes towards reindeer husbandry of members of the village and district administrations in general (not only those engaged in the departments of agriculture). The mayors of villages such as Ust'-Usa and Petrun' have a very concrete and practical picture of reindeer herding and they personally know most of the reindeer-herding families in their community. Yet the situation is different with the mayors of the towns of Usinsk, Inta and Vorkuta. Indeed, reindeer herding is part and parcel of the local economy, but the majority of the inhabitants of these towns works in oil or coal production. Whether the reindeer industry is profitable or unprofitable does not matter to them: mineral resource extraction brings more money into the local budget than the whole so-called agro-industrial sector. What, then, can be the significance of reindeer husbandry for the district? Here the concept of reindeer herding as a "traditional way of life" comes in handy. For the mayors of these towns, the symbolic value of reindeer husbandry is higher than its market value. It helps to promote a local identity. This is not to say that the town administrations do not pay any attention to reindeer husbandry. However, in Inta (and similarly, in Vorkuta and Usinsk), reindeer husbandry attracts most attention one day per year: the festival of the reindeer herders. That is the day when the herders come to town with their draught animals, sledges and a couple of tents, and the townspeople enjoy the opportunity to take their children for a short ride on a sledge driven by a herdsman. For the government of the Komi Republic, reindeer husbandry does not figure as a main issue, either, for two reasons: firstly, the reindeer-herding area comprises only the northernmost quartet _of the republic's territory; secondly, the lion's share of the revenues in the republic's budget stems from mineral resource extraction. The prevailing image of the Komi republic, as it is crafted by the Komi government, refers to the abundance of mineral resources ( oil, gas, coal, aluminium and the like) and their importance for the federal economy (Karjalainen 2001). Reindeer herding is occasionally used as an emblem in the official self-representation, but it has no central role in this, nehher for the Komi Republic's territorial identity, nor for the identity of the Komi people. In this context, we should look at Komi ethnicity and ethnic markers again. Fryer (1997) shows that there are two avenues to promoting the ethnic revival (vozrozhdenie) of 157 non-Russian peoples in the North of European Russia. One is the concept of "minority", applied, for example, by the Karelians. The other one is the concept of being "indigenous", applied by the Komi. However, many Nenets and Saami spokespeople are unwilling to accept the Komi as "indigenous", for in the historical retrospective they see the Komi as a people of colonisers. Therefore, Fryer predicts that in the long run, the Komi may face difficulties when claiming to be "indigenous". I would add that the Nenets, Khanty, Mansi and Saami are considered more "indigenous", as they belong to the "numerically small peoples of the North" (page 1 and below) and as such, they enjoy more international attention and sympathy. Fryer is also right to underline that for the Saami and Nenets reindeer herding constitutes one of the strongest ethnic markers, while for the Komi, language is the predominant ethnic marker112• While reindeer herding does not figure as an ethnic marker for the Komi in general, it does figure for the northern subgroup of the Komi, the Izhemtsy or Iz 'vatas (lzhma Komi, see section 4.2). The Izhemtsy intellectual elites are trying to take advantage of the official imagery of tradition. In 1990-91, an Association was founded to promote the identity of the Izhemtsy and to obtain the same legal status that the "numerically small peoples of the North" enjoy. The argument was based on the similarity of livelihoods (reindeer herding, fishing, hunting) of the Izhemtsy and that of the "numerically small peoples". Furthermore, it was argued in the first issue of the association's newsletter that from among all the Komi, they "are connected with the Nenets population of the tundra to the largest extent" (V. F. Kanev 1991). The "ethnic group" of the Izhemtsy is understood to also include the Komi living on the Kola Peninsula and on the Siberian side, in other words, in the regions inhabited by Saami, Khanty, and Nenets. However, this application to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union and later applications to the government of the Russian Federation have not been successful. There are at least three reasons for this failure: firstly, with approximately 70,000 people claiming Izhemtsy identity, they are too numerous for a "numerically small people"; secondly, the majority of the Komi did not support the northern subgroup's attempt at splitting up in etillfic terms; and thirdly, many Nenets, Khanty and Saami would not support the Izhemtsy attempt at obtaining this status as it would undermine their own position (see above). Although the Izhemtsy have not accomplished the officially acknowledged formation of an "ethnic group", it is interesting 112 To be sure, there is more to Komi ethnic identity than just the Komi language: the comparatively early introduction of literacy and the Orthodox creed, and in terms of the environmental setting and land-use, "the forest and the rivers", fishing and hunting, but all these elements of ethnicity could similarly well be claimed by Russians. 158 to see how their intelligentsiia interprets reindeer husbandry as a "traditional" activity and tries to use it as an ethnic marker. To develop this point further, let us look at the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON). The actual name of this association in Russian is Asso- tsiatsiia korennykh malochislennykh narorodv Severa, Sibiri i Dal 'nego Vostoka Rossiiskoi Federatsii (Association of indigenous, numerically small peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation). This full version of the name unveils why the Komi are not part of the clientele of the association: although the spokespeople of the Komi as an ethnic group underline that they constitute an "indigenous" (korennoi) people, they cannot claim to be a "numerically small" (malochislennyi) people. If the publications of RAIPON speak about reindeer husbandry as a traditional way of life, then the Komi are not explicitly included in this statement - sometimes, they are implicitly excluded. In other words, being "indigenous" is not the same everywhere in the Russian North. The Komi, it seems, are somewhere in between: they are neither "really indigenous" nor "real colonisers", neither "really traditional" nor "really progressive" - at least, this is how they appear in the discourse about Northern peoples in Russia and beyond. Owing to this ambivalence, they are conspicuously absent in the publications of Western NGOs that point to the problems and promote the interests of indigenous peoples. So far, I have characterised the voices of agricultural and other administrators in the villages, towns and the Komi Republic, as well as the voices of representatives of the ethnic organisations. Apart from ethnic deputations, there are also professional lobby groups. The 1990s have seen the foundation of the Association of Reindeer Herders of Russia and the Association of World Reindeer Herders (A WRH). These two organisations understand themselves as a kind of trade union. Social, economic and health-related problems are at the top of their agenda (Orgkomitet . . . 1997). A perusal of the "Reindeer Herder", the newsletter .of the AWRH113 , indicates that the term "tradition" occurs now and then, yet has by no means a central position in the rhetoric. A term that is widely used in the newsletters is "management". Altogether, the rhetoric use1 by the AWRH is situated between the traditionalist paradigm and the agro-industrialist one114• The palpable influence of the agro-industrial paradigm can in part be explained by the fact that among the A WRH' s board and council members from the various regions of 113 The "Reindeer Herder" appeared first in June 1998. The later issues that I examined are dated as follows: August 1998 (No. 2), February 1999 (No. 3), September 1999, November 1999 and February 2000. 11 4 Authors writing for the A WRH newsletter also frequently refer to the concept of sustainable development (c.f. annotation 109). 159 the Russian Federation, there are many who work, or used to work, as heads of reindeer- herding enterprises. One of the council members, the representative of the Komi Republic, is the former director of "Izhemskii olenevod". However, it appears that the A WRH has developed contacts with the reindeer-herding enterprises and authorities in the Komi Republic to a significantly lesser extent than with other regions, notably the Y amal-Nenets and Nenets Autonomous Okrugm. I am led to explain this by the circumstance that reindeer husbandry is marginal to Komi identity and the economy of the Komi Republic, and likewise the Komi Republic is perceived as a marginal area by the core members of the AWRH. To sum up this section, the agro-industrial paradigm prevails in the corridors of the kontora, among the managers of the reindeer-herding enterprises, the agricultural officials in the districts and the capital of the Komi Republic, Syktyvkar. Those who have an immediate relationship to reindeer herding are usually inclined to address the concerns of the reindeer-herding families in economic, social and health-related terms, as the example of the A WRH shows. The notion of "tradition", on the other hand, is often used to emphasise a specific local identity or even ethnic identity. The government of the Komi Republic is willing to support reindeer husbandry as a "traditional way of life", although the utility of "traditional ways of life" is clearly subordinate to the utility of oil and gas extraction, a relationship clearly articulated in the prevailing discourse about the Russian North as a treasury of mineral resources. At the federal and international level, the notion of "tradition" combines well with "indigenous peoples". However, owing to their special status in legal and political terms, the "numerically small peoples" get more public attention than other peoples in the Russian North that claim they are "indigenous" too. In this sense, whether Komi reindeer husbandry is promoted as "traditional" or not does not matter - outsiders usually associate reindeer husbandry with indigenous peoples, and indigenous peoples with "numerically small peoples". 115 This is mirrored by the A WRH Working Papers, each of which examines the situation of reindeer husbandry in one specific region. While the working papers on the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug contain comprehensive data and received good comments from the scientific reviewers, the working paper on the situation in the Komi Republic was criticised for its lack of important data and the failure to describe the spatial complexity of Komi and Nenets reindeer herding (Association ... 1999b: [26]; cf Association ... 1999a and 1999c). 160 8.3 Is reindeer herding condemned to tradition? My overall impression is that most inhabitants of the Komi Republic conceive reindeer husbandry in very "traditional" terms. On many occasions during my journeys by train from Moscow to Syktyvkar or from Syktyvkar to Usinsk, Inta and Vorkuta, I was asked why I was visiting this region. More than once, my reply "I am doing research on reindeer husbandry" evoked statements such as: "So you are going to the Chukchi, aren't you? That must be fun! They are very hospitable: as a guest you will be offered the chance to sleep with the wife of your host." I was at pains to explain that there are no Chukchi reindeer herders in this region (the Chukchi live thousands of miles further east, in the area opposite Alaska) and that the offer to sleep with the wife of the host - even if it had existed among the Chukchi - is by no means part of Komi etiquette, and has hardly ever been. Such informal conversations between travellers in the train should not be taken overly seriously; however, I came across them more than once. They show that many non-Komi inhabitants in the south and middle zone of the Komi Republic associate reindeer husbandry with Chukchi identity (the butt among the peoples of the Russian Federation for ethnic jokes). On other occasions, my reply "I am doing research on reindeer husbandry" was met with the comment: "So you are studying the history and the traditions of the herders and how it all used to be before the revolution; you work in archives and museums, don't you?"116 These two examples are given here to support the thesis that the majority of citizens in the Russian Federation think of reindeer husbandry as a past without a present. Even if respondents understand that reindeer husbandry is something that exists even nowadays, the predominant assessment that implicitly underlies such conversations is that reindeer husbandry is backward, a kind of life of yore, and doomed to become extinct in a few decades. This tenet in its turn is built upon the presumption that history is equal to advancement: what is_ backward will ultimately yield to progress and vanish. Belief in progress manifests itself particularly strongly in the countries of the former Soviet Union, since Marxist-Leninist theory, Soviet politics and historiography postulated a clearly unidirectional and, more than that, teleological course of history: from primitive society via various stages to capitalism and socialism, with the expectation of ultimately entering the stage of communism in the future. The fact that reindeer herders were forced to collectivise their herds and to send their children into boarding schools can be 116 The most recent time that this happened to me was in Wolfson College, Cambridge, in late January 2003, during a conversation with a young Ukrainian student now living in London. 161 understood as the endeavour of Soviet politicians and theorists to make primitive tribes travel through time into the era of socialism (Slezkine 1994). Hence the usage of terms such as "unculturedness" (nekul 'turnost') and "backwardness" (otstalost'). To return to the post-Soviet present, people clad in hides from top to toe, and travelling with their beasts over hundreds of miles are something disturbing for their urban neighbours - like Catweazle, the mediaeval sorcerer, they turn up from a past that, by the "logic" of history, should no longer exist117• The above is what I call the progressivist version of the traditionalist paradigm. There is, however, a complementary version, which I am now going to illustrate. During another train journey, I happened to have a conversation with an official of the administration of Inta. This woman, who is Komi herself, works in the Department for Transportation and knows the settlements around Inta very well. When we came to chat about reindeer husbandry, she characterised the reindeer herders as gullible and naYve - in a positive sense. In her words, theft or similar evils of the modem world are unknown to the herders. What came to the fore in this conversation is the notion of reindeer herders being "children of nature" ( deti prirody) 118• The reverse relation between the progressivist version and the romanticising version becomes visible in their interpretation of change within reindeer-herding communities. The progressivist version supposes that change (development) will ultimately put an end to reindeer herding and the community living from it; the romanticising version sees change induced from "outside" the community as automatically harmful, while change from "within" is often ignored. While from the progressivist point of view it is disturbing to see that the reindeer herders have not changed enough, from the romanticist point of view it is disturbing to see that they did change at all. What I find problematic about both versions of the traditionalist paradigm, are the expectations that are associated with the notion of tradition. In both cases, the consequence is the same: reindeer herding is characterised by its past, but it is not permitted to have a present or a future. In their extreme versions, neither posi~ion can acknowledge that reindeer husbandry is subject to continuity and change in the same way as all other aspects of society. What is most important, both these tenets come from outside. Both views are 117 CJ pp. 56, 69. Regarding the image of people wearing fur clothes made of reindeer skins, cf Anderson (1996: 40) and Bloch (1996: 124). About Catweazle, see Carmody (2000). 11 8 Several authors discuss the notion of the "children of nature" in their studies on the Russian North, for example Bloch (1996: 166-167 and 190-191); Grant (1995: 9, 158); Slezkine (1994: 73-80); and Ssorin- Chaikov (1998: 21 7, see also p. 233 on the notions ofinfant ilism and paternalism). 162 assumptions of how herders and tent workers should be; but there is little room for what they are, or want to be. In particular, I consider that the traditionalist paradigm is not conducive to arousing the willingness of young people to work as tent workers or herdsmen. In chapter 7, we have seen that life in the tundra has the image of the uncouth, uncivilised and uncultured. It cannot be really "modern", either, if so much emphasis is laid on its being "traditional". These notions will last as long as history is seen as unidirectional, and development as always progressive. Such perceptions of reindeer herding in a broader historical context are not restricted to the case of the Komi: anthropological studies from other parts of the Russian North reveal similar attitudes. Examining the role of educational institutions in the negotiation of identity in Tura, the capital of the Evenki Autonomous Okrug, Bloch (1996: 166-197) elucidates the opposition of "ideal proletarians" and a sense of modernity versus "children of nature" and the notion of tradition. Striking is Bloch's account about a local lecturer on Evenki ethnography: "The teacher made a conscious effort to emphasize how ' in the past' Evenki had been pristine and honest but she stopped short of discussing specific historical social policy (like collect- ivization or kulakization of shamans and others) as factors in social change. In the ethnography course Evenki were 'othered' through a decontextualized emphasis on their past spiritual traditions and no reference to contemporary lives and ritual practice" (Bloch 1996: 175). "A vivid example of this type of idealization emerged in public discussion in Tura following a showing of a Finnish documentary made in 1992 which chronicled the lives of Evenki living in the taiga and in towns ... The same woman who taught Evenk ethnography was critical of parts of the film that had been made in a reindeer herding brigade where 'those Evenki didn't wear traditional clothing"' (ibid.: 187). Yet again, the past and the present seem unconnected, or connected in an awkward way, in the interpretation of history. Like the ethnographic descriptions of the Peoples of the North (e.g. Levin and Potapov (eds.) 1964), the "old world", the realm of tradition, stops in 1917, or 1930 at the latest, whereas the "modern world", the realm of contemporary culture, starts somewhere between 1917 and the 1950s. Regardless of where the cut is made in the specific publication or talk, important is the fact that a cut is made. The same holds true with the exhibitions in many, if not most, local museums in the Russian North, like the one in Tura, where the exhibition "continued to embody this dichotomy of 'traditional ' and 'modern' , and the museum plan[n]ed to continue this emphasis in future displays" (Bloch 1996: 192). Even if the exhibitions in the school of Ust' -Usa (page 51) more or less consciously combine pre-revolutionary with post-revolutionary artefacts, the general tendency remains clear: in the eyes of those who are not involved in reindeer herding, 163 reindeer herding is often associated with a far-off past, sometimes a past prior to the "beginning of history" (page 55), but rarely with the present. 8.4 How could Komi reindeer herders utilise the concept of tradition? In the previous section, I have sought to analyse and deconstruct the function of "tradition" in the discourse on reindeer husbandry. However, I do not intend to disqualify the concept altogether. So far, I have treated "tradition" as an attribute which is imposed on reindeer- herding families; now I am going to move on to their appropriation of it. The notion of "tradition" can be considered not merely as a negative but also as a positive factor, as a discursive resource in regional, federal and international politics. The term "tradition" is closely connected with a new kind of self-esteem among the "numerically small peoples" and other peoples and the formulation of new policies in the Russian North. A remarkable example of the valuation of the term "tradition" is a book with the title "Neo-traditionalism in the Russian North" (Pika and Prokhorov (eds.) 1994). This book has been considered as a milestone in the discussion about the current situation and the future of the "numerically small peoples". The editors explain that "neo-traditionalism" should be understood as a strategy to overcome the state policy of modernism (ibid.: 5). Pika and Prokhorov distinguish two political approaches towards the Northern peoples: while the 1920s were the time of the "traditionalist" approach, the "modernists" took over in about 1930; this approach dominated the government's attitude towards the North for several decades (ibid.: 17-19). To replace "modernism" by "traditionalism", however, does not mean that all the indigenous Northerners now have to move "back to the chum" (ibid.: 6). The prefix neo serves to signify that the re-emergence of "traditions" is not equal to moving back in time. To put it shortly, -the importance of the book edited by Pika and Prokhorov is based on their political rehabilitation of the term "tradition" and the pre-1930s policies as applied by the Russian and Soviet government, particularly by the Gommittee of the North (cf Slezkine 1994). The book also encourages the representatives of the numerically small peoples of the North to rely on their own potential to make a change for the better and to put to use the experience of their cultural and historical heritage. In this sense, the concept of "neo-traditionalism" aims at reducing their passivity and dependency on state paternalism and at raising the self-awareness of the indigenous peoples. In other words, "neo-traditionalism" aims at raising their agency (cf Rethmann 2001 : 157-158). 164 Pika and Prokhorov's programmatic book and similar publications were widely appreciated by indigenous elites in the Russian Federation. For the first time in several decades, the image of the indigenous peoples and their "traditional way of life" was no longer necessarily connotated with "backwardness". The "traditional way of life" of indigenous communities was rehabilitated in moral terms. Yet what is more, the concept of "tradition" can also be used, and is being used, as a discursive resource for achieving rights to land and other legal entitlements. Concurrently, new ways of securing rights to land-use opened up and found their way into federal and regional laws and regulations: so-called "clan communities" (rodovaia obshchina) and "territories of traditional land-use" (terri- torii traditsionnogo prirodopol 'zovaniia) 119• By engaging in "traditional" ways of land-use, indigenous individuals and communities have sometimes succeeded in gaining privileges that the non-indigenous inhabitants of the same region covet120• Yoking together "traditional ways of life" (hunting, fishing, reindeer herding) and "indigenousness" has proved an important political asset for the "numerically small peoples of the North" and a way to change the prestige of reindeer husbandry. It was around 1991 or 1992 that intellectuals in the Komi Republic started ascribing the notion of "tradition" to Komi reindeer herding. I now return to my argument that the notion of tradition has entered the discourse of the agricultural administration and other institutions about Komi reindeer herders only recently. Prior to the 1980s, Soviet scholars emphasised that large-scale reindeer hus- bandry fostered the development of capitalism and a Komi bourgeoisie in this region (e.g. Belitser 1958: 60-64; Lashuk 1958: 101-2). It was only in the 1990s that anthropologists have started frequently using terms such as "traditional" economy and land-use (Konakov, Kotov and Sharapov 1992; Konakov (Ed.) 1994), followed by agricultural officials and directors of the reindeer-herding enterprises in the Komi Republic, who began to speak about reindeer husbandry as a "traditional branch" of the regional economy. Although the discourse in this sphere is still dominated by what I have called the agro-industrial paradigm, elements of the traditionalist paradigm have, to a ~ertain extent, been adopted. What we are witnessing is a change in the valuation of the term "tradition" from a negative image to a positive one. Bearing a positive content, it is successfully used by the intelligentsiia of the numerically small peoples in order to improve the image of reindeer husbandry. 119 See, for example, Fondahl (1998); Gray (2001); Kasten (1992; 1996); Zaporotskii and Murashko (2000). 165 However, I am not sure whether in the case of Komi reindeer husbandry, the application of the concept of tradition will be equally successful. The historical background of Komi reindeer herding (chapter 4) makes the concept of tradition less convincing, especially if compared with Nenets reindeer herding. If we analyse the notion of "tradition" more closely in its function as a discursive resource, we can discern different elements and strands, each of which may be articulated and utilised for specific purposes. Various voices can utilise them to various degrees. In other words, there is some inequality in the access to "tradition" as a resource. The Komi are disadvantaged in certain respects. One element of the concept of "tradition" is the reference to ancestral rights to land. Komi reindeer herders are not likely to use this trope to their benefit. Another element is the connotation of so-called rational land use, and in this respect the standing of Komi reindeer herders and their spokespeople is somewhat stronger. Yet stronger is their position as regards a third element: the "heritage" of skills, the know-how of living in the tundra and the forest, an ability that many outsiders find fascinating, since they perceive the tundra as a hostile and wild environment. Section 8.1 has illustrated how Komi reindeer herders tend to describe their own image: the element of "knowing the tundra", as well as the emphasis on the continuity in the activity of reindeer husbandry, constitute the points where the self-representation of Komi reindeer herders and "tradition" as a discursive resource come together in the most convincing manner. Finally, the talk about "traditional ways of life" also entails an element of purity: traditional societies are thought to be unspoilt by the negative effects of modernity. Here again, the idea of children of nature comes to the fore. The more primitive, the greater the chance of attracting the attention of the international public. Nevertheless, this is the point where the connection of the Komi reindeer herders to the concept of "tradition" fails most visibly. In this respect, Komi reindeer husbandry is not primitive enough. The imagery of "tradition" does not l1nk up with the market-oriented character and the tendency towards modernisation, which was characteristic of Komi reindeer herding. If reindeer husbandry in general appears to be traditional, then Komi reindeer 4usbandry has always been modem. Hence the reason Komi reindeer herders and their spokespeople see themselves betwixt and between tradition and modernity. The tundra is more than an open-air factory floor - but it is also more than an open-air museum. 12 ° From my perspective, however, this does not mean that indigenous peoples find themselves in a generally better position than other peoples of the Russian Federation. 166 At this point, we can return to the issue of agency: even though it does not fit very well, external forces (institutions) are trying to impose the concept of "tradition" upon the Komi reindeer herders. The section started with the question of how Komi reindeer herders can make use of "tradition" as symbolic capital in political discourse. I argue that while certain elements in their livelihood may enable and encourage them to utilise the tradition- alist paradigm themselves, they are disadvantaged in comparison with other reindeer- herding groups that have stronger claims to "tradition" as a discursive resource. Moreover, this resource has more currency outside the Komi reindeer-herding communities than within. Most importantly, Komi reindeer herders do not have control of their own image. Chapter 7 has illustrated the domains where the members of Komi reindeer-herding families have their widest scope for action. Chapter 8, on the contrary, has demonstrated that the formulation of their image is the sphere where they enjoy very little agency. This weakness, I believe, is the actual predicament of Komi reindeer husbandry. 167 Chapter 9 Conclusions Throughout the central part of the thesis ( chapters 5 to 8), I have analysed Komi reindeer herding from various points of view and with the focus on various resources. As pointed out at the beginning of this thesis (pp. 2-3), each of these analytical chapters broadly correlates to a specific domain of Komi reindeer husbandry; which in their combination constitute the life-world of Komi reindeer herders, tent workers and their family members. The term agency - a main theoretical concept in this thesis - was largely absent in the ethnographic chapters, since it is a term not used at all by reindeer herders, oil workers, administrators and politicians in the region. Yet it is implicit in much of the ethnographic material and discussion presented earlier. Tradition - the other main theoretical concept - was largely absent in the initial part of the ethnography, since reindeer herders and tent workers do not describe themselves as traditional; but the term tradition became increasingly important in the later part of the ethnography, since reindeer herders and tent workers are often described as traditional by people living further afield. In the concluding chapter, I return to the concepts of agency and tradition. In the first section, I shall summarise the possibilities for action and the kind of agency that Komi reindeer herders and their family members have in various domains (section 9.1). While it may sometimes seem as though reindeer herders, tent workers and their family members have very limited influence over their own situation, my contention is that they make use of opportunities and try to circumvent constraints in their everyday-life world in flexible and inventive ways. Far from merely being the victims of other people's decisions and the patients of other people's actions, I argue that reindeer herders and tent workers have their own possibilities for action. It is agency of a different kind. The relations between reindeer herders and tent workers (the brigada) on one hand, and the employees in the former state farm's office (the kontora) on the other hand, form a highly complex but also most salient field where this agency .of a different kind comes to the fore. For this reason, I shall take the relations in the former state farm (sovkhoz) as a starting point for my summary of reindeer herders ' and tent workers' possibilities for action. The relationships within the former state farm are part of a larger field, which I call the practice of reindeer herding ( section 9 .1.1 ). Thereafter I shall return to the discussion about how reindeer herders, tent workers and their family members take part in the negotiation of the image of reindeer herding ( section 9 .1.2). The image of reindeer herding 168 constitutes the domain over which reindeer-herding families and the individuals in them have least influence. After summing up these points (section 9.1.3), I shall discuss the notion of tradition within the conceptual frame of agency and structure (section 9.2). Finally, the findings of all previous sections will be discussed in terms of the spatial idioms of centre and periphery, and how these two concepts relate to Komi reindeer herders and tent workers (section 9.3). 9.1 Agency 9.1.1 Agency and the practice of reindeer herding It has often been assumed that the policy of collectivisation reduced the possibilities for self-determined action by peasants, fishermen, hunters and herders in the Soviet Union, and that inclusion into a collective farm or state farm was a decisive step in limiting the freedom of the individual or family. Let us remember the changes in the Komi reindeer herders' social situation before and after collectivisation. To what extent did the socialist reconstruction of agriculture enable reindeer-herding families to improve their economic situation? How did it influence their ability to take their own decisions? Chapters 4 and 6 show that these questions must be examined separately for various groups of reindeer-herding families. For affluent reindeer-herding families, like the "bourgeois" reindeer owners from Izhma, their possibilities for action certainly diminished during the 1930s. They were obviously oppressed and their economic situation deteriorated. Poor reindeer-herding families, on the other hand, apparently benefited from collectivisation: not only their economic, but also their social and symbolic capital initially increased. The crude and obvious methods of pre-revolutionary exploitation through rich owners and traders had come to an end; however, the reindeer herder was now confronted with a complex economic and administrative apparatus - the state or collective farm. The management of the state farms benefited from the surplus value of the reindeer herders' production in ways similar to the benefits previously enjoyed by the "bourgeois" exploiters of Izhma. Even if the scale and the mechanisms of manipulation were different, from the perspective of the herder and his family members, many working conditions remained the same. By entering the collective or state farm, they returned to ( or remained in) a subordinate state: how to herd the deer, where to herd them, where to do the slaughter - all this had to be done according to someone else's instructions. 169 Before, as well as after, the revolution, the hired reindeer herder was answerable for the reindeer under his supervision. However, the interesting question is: to whom did he give account? Around 1900, a hired herdsman was directly accountable to a private owner. Sixty years later, a reindeer herdsman was accountable for the well-being of reindeer that were state property. These animals were assigned to certain enterprises, among them organisations of very abstract character, like the Northern Railway or the Vorkuta Coal Combinate. Of course, for the herdsman the large enterprise was represented by the person in the enterprise who was manager of the reindeer-husbandry sector. However, the herdsman, as well as the manager of the enterprise, acted on the understanding that the reindeer were some kind of common property. The ultimate focal point of control moved further away. Power was now exerted through more intermediate layers, and responsibility became more diffuse. The mechanisms of control were changing and for this reason, the reindeer herders' agency was changing, as well as the agency of the representative of the big enterprise. The reindeer herder and the enterprise officials had (and have) different kinds of agency. They also expected (and expect) each other to have different kinds of agency (see below, page 172). Paine (1994: 195) has described a similar process concerning Saami reindeer herders in Norway as "the erosion of the pastoralists' responsibilities", resulting from the govern- ment's well-intended but paternalistic minority policies. He adds, "[i]t is the state who makes the decision of principle, not the pastoralist. From everything that I have learned about the pastoral sense of self, this is a very high price indeed" (ibid., 199). Returning to the situation in the Soviet Union, state paternalism was, no doubt, particularly strong. In socialist society, ideological norms used to be ambitious, certainly more ambitious than in pre-revolutionary times. To be a good reindeer herder had to do not only with skills and experience but also with political commitment and belief in the concepts of progress, industrialisation etc.· .In short, a good herdsman had also to be a good socialist. The pervasiveness of socialist society lay in its continual moral appeal to the individual to act for the sake of the society as a whole. This moral appeal ma~e some choices appear more appropriate than others. The process of the individual's responsibility becoming more abstract made membership in the collective or state farm tolerable and even attractive in the long run. The individual realised that it was easier to swim with the flow than against it. Hence, the local historian V. K. Kanev's complaint (page 73) about people's growing passivity, lack of initiative, and so forth. Similarly, the normative character of the socialist enterprise led to 170 high expectations on all parts. While theoretically the reindeer herders were expected to contribute to the advancement of reindeer husbandry and the society, they themselves could expect that society and the "authorities" would advance their lives and take care of them. The kolkhoz and sovkhoz came to serve as a screen against which the individual and the households could project not only their material expectations but also, more generally, their positive identifications as well as their anger. Gradually, the kolkhoz or sovkhoz became that all-encompassing and only conceivable reality (Humphrey 1998: 4; Konstantinov 2000: 49), the only possible life-world of reindeer herders and tent workers that it has remained until now. Some authors (Hancock 2002; Vitebsky 2000) have suggested that the institution of the brigada itself is becoming part of the "tradition" of reindeer husbandry in Russia, and the same may be said about the sovkhoz itself (Konstantinov 2000: 61-62). In her dissertation on institutionalised children in the Soviet Union, Khlinovskaya- Rockhill (forthcoming) analyses the double-faced appearance of the State: it incorporated both "us" and "them" (also cf Ssorin-Chaikov 1998: 212, 304). As a society, it represented "us"; as a regime, it represented "them". I think that the kolkhoz and the sovkhoz embody the same kind of order and ambiguity, albeit at a different level. Ultimately, the state is responsible for the sovkhoz and kolkhoz farms, since they are part of the public sphere. At the same time, they constitute a private sphere. The kollektiv of the collective farm or state farm hinges on informal networks, such as those of kinship and friendship (chapter 7; cf Kharkhordin 1999: 322-328 et passim). "They" are those who cause the shortcomings and mediocrities of collective life, and who can be blamed if something goes wrong. "Us" is the collective. From the perspective of the brigada, "us" are the brigada members; "them" is the kontora. From the perspective of both groups together, "us" is the state farm; "them" is some abstract authority. "Us" translates as actual individuals in the centre of the reindeer herders' life-world; "them" is constituted by the periphery that takes decisions over the reindeer herders' life-world (cf Paine 1994: 197). The members of the kollektiv were constantly reminded of ~he public (political) face of the kollektiv, but they were also aware of the kollektiv's private face through their actual day-to-day work. A crucial contradiction between these two faces lay in the members' awareness that they could not constantly live up to the normative codex of Soviet society and economy. Hence, the reason the members of the collective did things "our way". And if "they" (the farm managers, the Party, the Government, or whoever in the centre) cannot sort out "our" problems, then "we have to do it ourselves". But usually not through the 17-1 official channels: the best ways are the informal ways. Yest' zakon, yest' i svoi zakony ("You have the Law, and then you have your own laws") - this phrase quoted by Wilson (2002a: 165) summarises the subtle dialectics between the agency of big and seemingly abstract institutions such as the Party, the Government or the State on the one hand; and agency at grass-root level on the other hand (see also below, page 174). The agent cannot turn the existing structure upside down but he or she can "make a difference" and find a way where it seemed that there is no way. In the relation between Soviet authorities and reindeer-herding brigades, the managers of the state and collective farms played a pivotal role. Their position in the relationship between "us" and "them" is intermediate: hence their carrot-and-stick ap- proach (page 121). The managers had to require "maximum herd preservation" according to official agricultural policy, but they could never expect to have complete knowledge of what was going on in the tundra. More than once I have described the relation between brigada (the members of the reindeer-herding unit) and kontora (the members of the state farm office) as a symbiosis, for both groups depend on each other. Every paid herdsman or tent worker has their written work contract with the state farm, but there is also the unwritten contract between brigada and kontora. The state farm may be understood in terms of patron-client relations as discussed by Scott (1976). The kontora members are the patrons: the brigada members are the clients. The brigada members do not, generally, mind that the kontora members live on the brigada's work and product. They know that they need the kontora members for specific purposes. The kontora members, for example, deal with land claims, taxes, helicopters and, more generally, relations with external agents. These are aspects where brigada members do not feel competent enough (they feel that they lack agency within this domain). Both groups have certain stakes and expectations and assess each other in terms of the fulfilment of the unwritten contract. The question for the brigada members is whether the contract is fair; that is, to what degree the "moral economy" i,s in accordance with their expectations (Scott 1976: 33 et passim). The brigada members' numerous complaints about shortages of canvas, sugar etc. can be understood as constant appeals to the kontora members to fulfil the contract. Likewise, the kontora members constantly send out appeals to the brigada members to fulfil their part of the contract. The relation between brigada and kontora, though, is not one of equal terms: within the kontora, there is a group of 172 particularly powerful actors. The director of the enterprise is not necessarily among them. I have identified these "oligarchs" in chapter 6 (page 122). The brigada members also have clear expectations about the director ( or to speak with Scott again, about their patron). Among the qualities that a good director and other kontora members should have are "connections" {in Russian: blat, see Ledeneva 1998). They should possess and exert "their own ways of blat", a different and more powerful kind of blat than that of the brigada members. Let me explain this by returning to the brigada members' lack of interest in the marketing of the "public reindeer" meat (page 111 ). They feel that the marketing is not their business but part of the patron's job. They expect the kontora members to act on their behalf, since the kontora members are hoped to have the necessary connections. The managers may be conceived of as emperors of what Seabright calls "information islands". Seabright exemplifies (2000: 7): "We can think of the firm as inhabiting an 'information island' outside which its comparative advantage no longer exists. Trading networks may therefore represent its only points of contact outside the island - and barter a way to utilise the information these points of contact make possible." A very typical representation of the sovkhoz director is the photograph which shows him making a phone call. And it seems that the greater the number of telephones on his desk, the more power he must have. These are the harbours of his information island. In the same book, Humphrey (2000: 78) quotes producers (factory managers in Moscow Oblast' and farmers in Buriatiia): "Are we expected to produce goods and sell them too? How are we to do that?" (her emphasis). Workers in the reindeer-herding enterprises may say exactly the same. They have only recently learnt how to sell the meat of their private reindeer, and yet, when it comes to state-farm reindeer, they do not see it as their job. Different kinds of reindeer - public and private - appear to be related to different kinds of agency. Furthermore, in Soviet times, the state farm's meat was purchased by specific organisations that no longer exist. Thus, while in Soviet times blat was needed in order to overcome shortages rather than to sell one's product, 1!owadays blat is needed to solve both problems. Consequently, over the last fifteen or so years, the importance of informal networks and connections has increased. The accountancy department within the sovkhoz yields an excellent example of a very specific kind of agency (cf page 121). Hancock observed (2002: 238): "These people often sat in front of computer screens and many were busy using the organization's resources to operate sideline business ventures." This observation leads me to the next 173 point of my conclusion: kontora and brigada are not only dependent on each other; they are also united by their dealings with the "outside world". Above (page 172), I have characterised this as the dialectics between the agency of abstract institutions and agency at grass-root level. The bonds between the kontora and brigada rest upon people's wariness of "outside" organisations ("them"). This wariness is a legacy of the socialist period when there was a common understanding that sometimes you have to circumvent "the Law", which may include the manipulation of sovkhoz statistics (see section 6.5 in particular). Circumventing "the Law", dealing with the contradiction between the public face and the private face, "muddling through" between ideological norms and the problems of everyday life (Hann 1993: 11 -14) - this specific reality created the moral preconditions for the remarkable development of the informal part of sovkhoz economy. The sovkhoz serves as a formal platform for the informal operations of both kontora and brigada members. While the members of both groups seem to have considerable difficulty in seeing themselves as entrepreneurs in the official sphere, they have little difficulty in engaging in crypto-entrepreneurship (Konstantinov 2002). The persistence of the sovkhoz as the only conceivable life-world of Komi reindeer herders and tent workers is rooted in the dialectics of the formal and the informal sphere. While there is a contradiction between the public and the private face of the sovkhoz as a social entity, the distinction between public property and private property is blurred (Humphrey 1998: 1). The individual member (or family) may consider it rightful to make claims on resources in public property, such as the reindeer owned by the state farm. Therefore, while outsiders may see crypto-entrepreneurship as parasitic on the old state structure, the brigada members would probably reject any such interpretation. The state farm has been established and is being sustained through their work. For them, it is "our" state farm. They have invested all their energy: they want to see some reward. Therefore, because there has been no regular pay, brigada members take their reward in kind (cf Rasanayagam 2003: 7-8). To sum up, the reindeer herders' and tent workers' agency within the sovkhoz is of a largely informal character. The relations between this group - the brigada - and the workers in the state farm's office - the kontora - hinge on a delicate balance, on a contract which is under constant negotiation, or bargaining, as Ssorin-Chaikov (1998) has called it. As the income of reindeer-herding families has been decreasing over the last ten years, the structure of the state farm appears to provide more security than a privatised existence, because the state farm allows the families to survive without a monetary income. Thus, the 174 preference ( or decision) of Komi reindeer herders to remain within the state farm structure may equally be seen as a kind of agency, as has been explained above (page 8; cf Wilson 2002b). One may decide not to change one's situation; one may prefer not to give up cer- tain securities, such as secure access to economic resources, in a situation of unpredictable and sometimes chaotic change (Scott 1976: 24 et passim). Most of the discussion above has examined the relation between actors within the state farm. Notwithstanding the state farm's all-encompassing role in the daily existence of reindeer-herding families, the analysis of their possibilities for action must go further, because of the inequality of their living conditions. In chapter 7, I have sought to show the import of various scholars' conceptual approaches to discerning several socio-economic types of reindeer-herding families (Bloch 1996) and types of production (Elwert 1985). Reindeer-herding families differ in their access to resources and ownership of resources ( economic and social capital). Obviously, these resources largely determine the scope of agency of the different reindeer-herding families and their individual members. Without access to means of transportation, reindeer-herding families cannot "harvest" the resources in the tundra. This is why Anderson (1995: 274) speaks about "access to transport and to readily exchangeable goods" as the prime factor of social stratification in communities in the Russian North. We should not forget, however, that the reindeer themselves are used for transportation (as well as for meat); in this sense, they constitute a very specific resource. Ethnographically specific in the case of Komi large-scale reindeer husbandry is the fact that families "work the land" and operate households hundreds of kilometres apart. The family's household is located in two or even more places: the tent in the tundra, the house in the village, and in some cases the base in the town. Operating at different sites brings certain problems (constraints) but also opportunities: the wider the spatial range of activities, the more diversified is the family's livelihood and the more secure is the family's survival (for another Arctic analogy, see Chabot 2003). Operating at different sites and "harvesting" a diversity of resources constitutes a ri~k-avoidance strategy and testifies to a wide ambit of agency. Again, these resources include economic capital (meat, antlers, fish, waders and other goods) as well as social capital (the uncle in town who can help with the shopping or the paperwork in the administration). To have a ·reindeer herder or tent worker in the family translates into meat, hides, fish etc. as resources for the household; to have a state farm driver in the family translates into easier access to fuel and transportation. The attempt at diversifying the household's economy includes creativity 175 and reflexivity, two keywords in Giddens's (1984) characterisation of agency (page 7). I have presented examples of reindeer herders' children going into various professions in chapter 7 (page 142). These careers are partially based on personal choices and prefer- ences, and partially on the household's economic requirements and other constraints. Following on from this, I have discussed th~ question of who is willing and able to work in reindeer husbandry. This question must be answered differently for each gender. Women who may consider working in the tundra may shy away from doing so because the tundra is associated with a lack of amenities and a low level of culturedness. Life in the tundra is supposed to be "tough", and reindeer herding, to be "uncouth" (Vitebsky and Wolfe 2001). Owing to its prevailing image, reindeer husbandry does not seem suitable for women. Its very low status in terms of "culture" (in the Soviet and post-Soviet sense) is a serious constraint: the assumption that reindeer herders and tent workers lack "culture" reduces the symbolic capital of their activities and experience. Consequently, the low status of reindeer husbandry has a negative influence on the agency of the people involved in reindeer husbandry. With regard to men going into reindeer husbandry, Vitebsky and Wolfe are quite sceptical in their assessment: "someone still has to, someone likes the sense of freedom, or they do not have anywhere else to go" (2001: 82). I partly subscribe to this point of view ( cf chapter 7). What becomes increasingly apparent in the north of the Komi Republic is the dominating character of the oil and gas industries. Whoever can find a job in this sector will take it because of the money. Agriculture, forestry and other branches are gradually developing into "second-class" and "third-class" branches of economy and occupation. Agriculture and reindeer herding are in fact developing into occupations for people who "do not have anywhere else to go", or people who have a passion for it. The tundra may afford shelter for those who do not get along with village life ( or life in town). Its remoteness allows for -escaping control. Yurchak (1997: 184-185) illustrates the way certain jobs and occupations in the wider Russian world belonged to the "parallel sphere", where Soviet ideological norms were largely absent. In some c.ases, people may choose to work in reindeer herding because it is peripheral in the "political" sense (page 147). Many Russians, and Komi, too, assert that the ability to work as a reindeer herder is inherent "in the genes". I wish to challenge this essentialist tenet with the concept of "tundra pedagogy" (section 7.6), according to which becoming a herdsman is a question of enskilment not of genes (Ingold 2000). Leaming by doing is crucial. However, although there are cases where outsiders start working in reindeer husbandry and living in the 176 tundra, these cases are exceptional. A link from one generation to the next is important, otherwise the practice of reindeer herding cannot be demonstrated to novices in reindeer husbandry. You cannot learn herding from the books. Knowing the land is a resource; knowing how to herd reindeer is a resource, too. We may understand this knowledge and experience as the symbolic capital that constitutes. the prime source of reindeer herders' agency. This point leads me to the question of the image of reindeer herders and tent workers. 9.1.2 Agency and the image of reindeer herding In the ethnographic description and the previous section, I have shown that reindeer herders have unchallenged agency only in the domain of herding itself, since this domain is inaccessible to anybody else, most of the year. "They know the land", as their fellow- villagers respectfully say. They travel through the tundra to places that other people cannot get to, because the latter would simply get lost and perish on the way. Everybody else is a yando. Being yando means to have deficient agency in this specific domain. Being yando means to be an outsider. (The notion of yando and what I see as its antonym - yaran - is discussed in section 7.6). Within the village community, the image of Komi reindeer-herding families is twofold. On one hand, reindeer herders enjoy a high social status through their practical knowledge and experience, through their adaptability and endurance. Reindeer herders are considered by their fellow-villagers to be tough, and this is also the way they see and describe themselves. "To be tough" is a form of symbolic capital. "To be tough" is part of the herders' occupational ethos. On the other hand, school education is not likely to "create" or to "increment" such capital because the curriculum does not focus on such practical knowledge. Instead, school education is informed by the values of tsivilizatsiia ( civilisation) and kul 'tura (culture). Thereby it tends - almost automatically - to stigmatise children of reindeer herders as pupils who perform badly, as pupils who are not quite as bright and do not quite have the "mental resources" that other children have. In this way, school pedagogy reduces the self-esteem of reindeer herders' children, which has a negative effect on the individual's agency. Overall, the social status of members of Komi reindeer-herding families is comparatively low in the wider Komi and Russian public. Moreover, reindeer herders, and people in the rural communities in general, continually lack a certain agency that is represented by Leont'ev, the pop star who left his native village (page 39). He embodies an image of fortune and freedom, choice and 177 individuality. He embodies the kind of agency for which young people in the rural communities ( as well as in town) are striving. While Soviet notions of kul 'tura (culture) and tsivilizatsiia ( civilisation) have remained almost unchanged, and are disseminated through school education and the Houses of Culture, television programmes and other forms of media contribute to the distribution of po~t-socialist cultural values: they bring in new notions of fashion and modernity (cf Bloch 1996: 26; Grant 1995: 29). Leont'ev is one of the figureheads of "modem" life-style. Reindeer herders are not part of the local intelligentsiia or elite. With Yurchak (1997) we could say that they play a marginal role in the hegemony of representation, in this case, the representation of the village community as "civilised" in the Soviet and post- Soviet sense. In chapter 3, I have drawn a line between the villages ofNovikbozh and Ust'- Usa regarding the image and status of reindeer-herding families. This may be associated with "culturedness" as a form of symbolic capital. Vitebsky and Wolfe (2001) have illustrated this as the continuum from the cultured to the uncultured. In comparison with Novikbozh, Ust'-Usa appears to be one step away from the centre of the reindeer herders' and tent workers' life-world, and one step closer to the centres of power. Even though the villages are only five kilometres away from each other, they have been moulded by tsivilizatsiia in different ways and - one may say - to different degrees. The concrete apartment blocks in Ust'-Usa symbolise this. Tsivilizatsiia arrived earlier in Ust'-Usa, owing to the fact that it used to be an administrative centre for the whole region. It used to be a centre of power, even if those days are now over. Both villages are now overshadowed by the newly founded town ofUsinsk. Altogether, reindeer husbandry and reindeer-herding families are marginalised in the everyday life of the town of Usinsk, and the situation is similar in Inta and Vorkuta. True, the reindeer and the reindeer herders' tent serve as emblems on the coats of anns ofUsinsk and Inta. Reindeer husbandry is useful for creating a specific local identity. The reindeer and the herders and tent workers fulfil a certain role for the wider public. They possess a certain symbolic capital that they "lend" to the community, tq the administration of the town, on occasions such as the Inta festivities (page 157). However, the fact that the "beginning of history" of Usinsk has been determined as February 1970 discloses the hegemonic meaning and image of this place. The actual purpose of Usinsk is oil production, not reindeer husbandry. The past has been turned into an emblem; yet the everyday-life reality of reindeer herding interferes with the emblem. 178 Let us now look at the political representations of reindeer herders and Northern peoples. Jemsletten and Klokov (2002: 2) claim "[r]eindeer herders in Russia are practically deprived of the possibility to participate in decision making processes in the reindeer husbandry management. The NGO's of the reindeer herders need to be strengthened." At the risk of sounding overly pessimistic, my opinion is that the federal and regional associations of reindeer herders that Jemsletten and Klokov have in mind are not likely to enhance reindeer herders' participation, at least in the case of the Komi. As I have shown in chapter 8 (page 160), in the councils of the associations of reindeer herders one finds many kontora members but few brigada members. While the associations of reindeer herders (the Association of World Reindeer Herders and the federal and regional associations) have difficulties in encouraging Komi reindeer herders and tent workers to participate in politics, they do play an important role in the promotion of the image of reindeer herding. Spokespeople of the Association of World Reindeer Herders seldom emphasise the traditionality of reindeer husbandry; instead, they refer to it as a steady and dynamic system that calls for specific "management" solutions. In a similar vein but with different rhetoric, the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON) is aiming at raising the status and promoting the interests of the indigenous peoples. RAIPON members successfully apply the traditionalist paradigm for this purpose. It is in this sphere that the traditionality of indigenous peoples obtains its greatest value as symbolic capital. Nevertheless, the application of these values and paradigms are more complicated in the case of Komi reindeer husbandry than in the cases of other reindeer-herding peoples in the Russian Federation. Reindeer husbandry does not play a central role in the ethnic identity of the Komi in general; and, moreover, the Komi do not belong to the numerically small peoples. Nenets reindeer herders have more opportunities to benefit from the activities of RAIPON and Association of World Reindeer Herders. The wider public in the Komi Republic usually conceive of reindeer herders in two ways: children of nature or backward country folk. Both n_otions point to a unilinear concept of history. Reindeer husbandry is a thing of the past, it looks awkward in the present, and is not expected to have a future. Behind this hovers the notion of progress, the commitment of Marxism and Leninism to social engineering (cf page 186). The political, historical and social conditions that have caused this image of reindeer husbandry as something uncultured and non-progressive represent the prime constraint and impediment to the agency of the reindeer herders and tent workers themselves. Indigenous peoples' 179 representatives try to overcome the negative image of "backwardness" by the usage of "tradition". Note that the image has changed more than once over the 20th century. Komi reindeer husbandry was perceived as "modem", "progressive" and "capitalist" around 1900, nowadays it is perceived as "traditional" and "backward", and sometimes as "subsistence life-style". 9.1. 3 Agency in different domains In the introduction of this thesis and, again, at the beginning of this chapter, I have made a distinction between "the practice" of reindeer herding on one hand, and "the image" of reindeer herding, on the other hand. Other people ( experts from the departments for agriculture, biologists, ecologists, economists and others) are prone to think that the situation of reindeer husbandry in the Russian North can be improved by technological measures (for a recent example, see Jemsletten and Klokov 2002). I agree with them. Like these authors, I have been trying to examine the main factors that have a bearing on the future of reindeer husbandry in the north of the Russian Federation. However, I wish to emphasise that the future of reindeer husbandry depends not only on practical aspects but also on the image of reindeer husbandry. For almost a hundred years, scientists and politicians have been suggesting improvements to the technological basis of the reindeer industry (e.g. Kertselli 1911: 103, 108; cf section 4.3.2), but what is the point in constructing brand-new EU-standard slaughterhouses if young people do not want to work in reindeer husbandry because it is supposedly traditional, that is, non-modem? Reindeer herders and tent workers have different kinds and scopes of agency in various domains. Their agency becomes most visible in those domains that immediately pertain to the practice of reindeer herding, and in what Wilson, following de Certeau, calls the domain of everyday practice. "Everyday life is more than a domain of routinised activity, passive consumerism, triviality and habit ... It is the domain of resistance and counter-hegemonic forces; adaptation to change; the formation of moral values; creativity, utopia, spontaneity and humour" (2002b: 39). Reindeer herders and tent workers as a group enjoy unrivalled agency in the camp and the tent. Seniority and practical experience determine the social status and the power of the individual within this group. Although reindeer herders show a large scope of agency in the tundra ( owing to their experience and their "knowing the land" etc.), their agency is nonetheless confronted, and sometimes questioned, by the presence of oil workers even in their own surroundings. 180 Owing to its economic significance, the domain of the oil and gas industry itself is closely controlled by the domain of politics. I have argued in chapter 5 that the possibilities for reindeer herders to participate in the process of negotiating rights to land-use are very restricted, although they are the ones who are most affected by the outcome of such negotiations. Agency, therefore, seems to be very limited in this domain. In fact, it is limited in the political domain, as has also been shown by Wilson (2002b ). However, she emphasises that people may choose not to engage in certain debates or domains: they may choose to withhold their voice in certain fields. From my own research, it appears that reindeer herders and tent workers rely on the people in the state farm's kontora and officials in the Department of Agriculture to sort out these problems for them ( cf page 172). Reindeer herders and tent workers prefer to exert their agency in other domains, notably in the domain of everyday life, where they may expect results to be beneficial in a more direct way and coming in more quickly, for example, by growing vegetables around their house. Within the structure of the former state farm, reindeer herders and tent workers have to compete, but also live in a symbiosis, with the kontora people. In many cases, these white-collar workers are the relatives of the reindeer herders and tent workers. Reindeer herders and tent workers need the white-collar workers for specific purposes, including all official contacts with "outer" domains, such as agricultural authorities, oil companies and other institutions in the district centre, the capital of the republic and the capital of the Russian Federation. To repeat, for the reindeer-herding families, the latter places constitute the periphery of their everyday-life world, and their social capital (informal networks) does not reach into this periphery; consequently, transactions and communications take place in the official sphere rather than in the informal sphere. Hence the reason these places appear so alien and distant from the domain of everyday life, and why the go-betweens of the kontora are needed. Reindeer herders are not at home in the official sphere: officials are at home in the official sphere. Reindeer herders are not at ~ome in the political sphere: politicians are at home in the political sphere. For officials and politicians, reindeer herding may seem as a world far away. For the reindeer herders, on the contrary, the corridors of power seem to be a world apart. The question, then, is why these spheres have so little overlap; that is, why there are so few reindeer herders and tent workers who become politicians or officials. True, some of them become officials in the kontora of the state farm but few are promoted any further. For this reason, outsiders keep telling reindeer 181 herders how to herd reindeer. And for the same reason, reindeer herders and tent workers keep speaking about "us" and "them" and see themselves as victims of !cabala (Konstantinov 2000: 55), as powerless before the authorities and oil companies. Finally, for the same reason, crypto-entrepreneurship seems justified in moral terms. The low degree of social mobility is caused by, and at the same time perpetuates, the reindeer herders' image as living in another time (being "traditional" or "backward"). 9.2 Tradition Let me now connect the notion of tradition with the concept of agency and structure ( cf page 7). My main point here is to show that the concept of tradition is similar to the one of structure. I shall present my argument in three versions. The first version is of a semantic character. This line of argumentation is based on Russian vocabulary; but it works out equally well in English. Most citizens of Russia, I contend, see the attribute traditsionnoe ("traditional") as standing in opposition to sovremennoe ("contemporary", which in the Russian language substitutes for the attribute "modem") or progressivnoe ("pro- gressive")121. Therefore, the word traditsiia ("tradition") stands in opposition to the word progress. While the former term emphasises the continuity of things, the latter emphasises change. More than any other society, socialist society lived with the explicit demand for social engineering, for innovation, progress and change. (It is on these grounds that around 1930 people vowed to conduct reindeer herding "in a new way".) In socialist ideology, progress itself is tantamount to agency: those who do not progress have no agency - they will be left behind. Here again comes in the notion of backwardness, in Russian otstalost ', or literally, the "standing-apart" (from the rest of "us", who have moved on). As Argounova has showil in her analysis of accusations of nationalism in Sakha (Yakutia), otstalyi ("backward") has frequently been used as an accusatory term. She concludes that progressivnyi ("progressive") is among the qualities "whic? represent what the ideal member of socialist society should be like ... " (2001: 255-256; cf Vitebsky 2002: 187), i.e. it is a moral term. 121 CJ Grant (1995: 159) and Kwon (1997: 160). Ssorin-Chaikov (1998: 103) gives a striking example of how the "the conceptual separation of 'modem' and 'traditional"' led the Soviet ethnographer-cum- politician Suslov to have his photographs faked in order to make them "ethnographically correct". Pika and Prokhorov discuss the opposition of the attributes sovremennoe ("contemporary") and etnichnoe ("ethnic"). The "ethnic", they state, often sounds like "to remain in the Stone Age" and is generally associated with the past (Pika and Prokhorov (eds.) 1994: 20-21). 182 Since the mid-1980s, the term "traditional" has been used first by intellectuals and then by wider circles of elites in the Soviet Union and Russia, notably by politicians. "Tradition" is used in order to capture the positive traits of continuities in social life, while "backwardness" is used to capture the negative traits of the same continuities. In the post- socialist context, the notion of "tradition" has become a powerful discursive resource - a kind of symbolic capital, which is the key resource for image (see chapter 8). Even so, it cannot compete against the notion of "progress", which remains unchallenged in its power. In fact, the notion of "tradition" - by virtue of the assumption that some societies are more "traditional" than others - implicitly reaffirms and strengthens the notion of progress. The second version of my argument that tradition is similar to structure derives from the idea that both imply a certain primordial state in the arrangement of things ("our people have always done things in this way"). Tradition refers to what is supposedly a structural property of a certain social group. The statement that reindeer husbandry is a traditional form of land use (or a traditional way oflife) implies that reindeer husbandry, because it is primordial, should have priority over other forms of land use ( or life styles). In the regional setting of the Russian North, the statement that reindeer herding and hunting and fishing are traditional ways of land use is used by the political and intellectual spokespeople of the indigenous peoples to defend the status of these forms of land use against the "new" industries, notably oil and gas extraction. They use the notion of tradition to confer moral superiority upon those "old" activities, which have supposedly existed for-so long a time that they have become an unquestionable given. Economists may argue that oil and gas extraction yield higher profits than any kind of agricultural activity. This kind of argumentation attains its authority from the central role of economy in the dominant discourse in socialist societies as well as post-socialist and Western societies ("market economies"). The assertion that reindeer herding, hunting and fishing are traditional tries to challenge the primacy of the economic argumentation by claiming that reindeer herding, hunting and fishing should come first, because they have been there first. But, as stated above, the same assertion logically recreates the notion of progress. This dilemma amounts to a conceptual weakness in the traditionalist paradigm ( cf chapter 8), and it creates a political weakness too. The position of the adherents of the traditionalist paradigm can only be one of defence and protection. The third version of my argument that tradition is similar to structure derives from the idea that both underline the continuity of certain things. I shall illustrate this by returning to the ethnographic description in the first chapter. The words "da capo" (at the 183 end of section 1.3) indicate the repetitiveness of the reindeer herders' activities. The annual cycle of migrations, the pitching and the striking of the tent, are all structural features of reindeer herding, and therefore of the lives of the reindeer herders and the members of their families. Then again, all these activities are subject to variance, for without a good deal of flexibility people were not able to survive in the tundra. One may conclude that Komi reindeer husbandry has plenty of traditions, and a highly traditional character. However, so have other occupations and life-styles, for example that of the coal miners of Vorkuta. Moreover, Komi reindeer herders and tent workers do not use the word "tradition": instead, they constantly recreate "tradition" without reflecting on it verbally. Looking at the notion of tradition in the context of Saami reindeer herding, Bjerkli (1996: 10) says: "An underlying assumption about a state of affairs that can be described as 'traditional', often exists. This state of affairs is something lasting and stable." However, Bjerkli proposes treating the concept of tradition in a different way. "Seen in this perspective, there is a dynamic element embedded in 'traditional' patterns of behaviour. Such dynamics are perhaps some of the most important elements missing in much of the theories on 'tradition"' (ibid.: 18). To try to cast the "traditional" into a neatly carved mould means taking away its flexibility. "If we codify the flexible, we risk standardization. Hence adaptation will lose some of its elasticity that it requires, and a genuine 'traditional' condition slips between our fingers. Adap- tation is a flexible process, not a fact. If flexibility has a special 'traditional' value for Saami adaptation and survival and for many other indigenous peoples as well, then we could do much damage ifwe 'traditionalize' the 'traditional'" (ibid.). Similarly, "traditional" Komi reindeer herding, the "traditional way of life" (traditsionnyi uklad zhizni) of Komi reindeer herders, is neither rigid nor unchanging - it is flexible and involves change all the time. To 'traditionalise' the 'traditional' means to characterise it as if it were rigid, unchanging and frozen in time (Lawson 1997; Morrow and Hensel 1992; Nadasdy 1999; cf Halemba 2001: 285). If we use the traditionalist paradigm to describe the practice of reindeer herding, then we run the risk of making it bloodless and putting it behind the glass of the museum showcase. Although "tradition" may yield symbolic capital for indigenous and other peoples, it is a problematic resource, particularly problematic if applied to Komi reindeer husbandry. True, the notion of tradition, as in "traditional way oflife", is usually seen as a positive and assertive one, especially if opposed to the notion of "backwardness". Nevertheless, even if the traditionalist paradigm is based on a well-intentioned attempt to rehabilitate non- 184 Russian peoples in the Russian Federation, its application places these peoples m an awkward historical position 122• The same holds for the connection between the traditional (traditisionnoe) and civilisation (tsivilizatsiia) in the context of the post-Soviet Russian North. "Civilisation" points to some form of refinement that a society has achieved in the course of history. In this interpretation, "civilisation" may be understood as the accumulation of resources by a society through history. The resources that come to mind first are certain forms of cultural and symbolic capital (education, culture as in beaux arts) and economic capital (for example, roads and railways and telephones, and other forms of transportation and telecommunication). In chapter 3, and again in chapter 7, I have stated that tsivilizatsiia ends where the roads run out of tarmac. The zone beyond is characterised by a lack of certain amenities, by the absence of specific resources. What is specific about tsivilizatsiia in the Soviet and post-Soviet understanding is the selection of resources usually ascribed to it (transportation is one of them). In common language, people associate tsivilizatsiia with books by Pushkin, cars and vegetables, but not with old tales told around the campfire, reindeer sledges and aibarch (page 107) - the latter are all seen as tradition. Only archaeologists and anthropologists use the word tsivilizatsiia in connection with hunters and herders. There is yet another slant to the interpretation of tsivilizatsiia. "Civilisation", in the literary sense, has the notion of becoming civilised, or making someone . civilised (tsivili- zovannyi) . Throughout most of the 19th and 20th centuries, administrators in the centre and the provinces of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union were wont to conceive of various peoples as standing on various levels of civilisation123 • In other words, in the perception of the inhabitants of Russia, the various peoples have reached different stages in history. What is more, from the mid-l 940s to the 1970s at least, the hegemonic discourse presented the Russian people as the leading nation, and consequently, the most progressive one. (After all, it was argued, they had brought revolution and progress to the small peoples of the North; cf Slezkine 1994: 199 et passim). The Russian people were supposed 122 Pika and Prokhorov (eds., 1994) were aware of this problem and addressed it in their work. While I find the term "neo-traditionalism" infelicitous because of its hidden implications about history, I generally agree with their argument, including the demand for the enhancement of self-government. 123 Since Speranskii ' s administrative reforms (in 1822) ethnic groups in Siberia were graded into "sedentary", "nomadising" and "roaming" (osedlye, kochuiushchie, brodiashchie) peoples. Each of these categories was connected with specific administrative regulations (Raeff 1956: 104- 136). Lenin's national policy perpetuated the notion of peoples undergoing different stages of historical development. The multi-tiered system of administrative units (Autonomous Republic, Autonomous Oblast', okrug) helps to sustain such .assumptions about people's progress in history. 185 to have achieved more refinement than other peoples and therefore they were thought to be more "civilised" than the Komi or Nenets. What is more, the Russian nation had the mission to bring civilisation and culture to the Peoples of the North. (This may be described as the initial stage, the second stage being a number of trained and acculturated "nationals" bringing civilisation and culture to their own ethnic groups). After 1930 in particular, societies had to change for the sake of progress, and what needed to be overcome was the "backwardness" of those societies. Slezkine's account of the first Soviet cadres among the Northern Peoples aptly illustrates how hard these cadres were trying to exert all their agency in order to "make a difference" and overcome the assumed indifference of the natives. "Tradition is very much alive where transportation is poor" is a preliminary con- clusion that I offered in chapter 7. Sure, there is no direct causal link between "tradition" and "transportation"; instead, what these two terms actually point to is the absence of certain resources, the character of a region as not thoroughly appropriated ( osvoeno) by the progressive forces, as an "uncivilised" place. It is a place that is not thoroughly conquered, in the political sense as well as in the cultural sense. Politically, this translates as a lack of control; as is exemplified by reindeer owners who could evade collectivisation in the remotest parts of the tundra (appendix 10). Culturally, it translates as an alien domain that may hold eerie surprises, as is exemplified by the slight shudder outsiders get when they hear that Komi and Nenets reindeer herders drink fresh blood. Ultimately, the "traditional" implies otherness. "Traditional" are some other people, but not we ourselves. In the Russian language, I have stated, the "traditional" (traditsion- noe) is opposed to the "contemporary" (sovremennoe). To belong to a traditional people either means to be a relic in time (Maksimov 2002), or it takes the notion of "dwelling in 'habitats' outside of history" (Hancock 2002: 229-230). Hancock continues: "it seems that the theories of tradition that prevail in the popular imagination... imply that indigenous economies, to be considered indigenous, ought to replicate with plausible fidelity an intact world of meaning outside of contemporary reality" (ibid.). Someone who is assessed as "traditional" cannot be contemporaneous with the person who is giving this assessment. To use the terminology of Fabian (1983), the speaker denies the coevalness of the person spoken about. "Tradition and modernity are not 'opposed' (except semiotically), nor are they 'in conflict'. All this is (bad) metaphorical talk. What are opposed ... are not the same societies at different stages of development, but different societies facing each other at the same Time" (ibid.: 155). Both Russian and 186 Komi societies are as much traditional as they are modem. Only through such metaphorical classification does it happen that societies and ethnic groups are "assigned their slots in evolutionary schemes" (ibid.: 147). Throughout this thesis, I have argued that Komi reindeer herders and their family members do not have control of their own image. But why does image matter? One may argue that for the Komi reindeer herders themselves it may not make any difference how they are perceived from the outside; for the image has no, or only very little, influence on the practice of reindeer herding. Yet the image has a very large influence on the decision whether or not to become a reindeer herder or tent worker. Young people will no longer be willing to work in the tundra if they are constantly confronted with the suggestion that they are going to work in a business which has no place in contemporary life, which is outside modernity. This is why the usage of the traditionalist paradigm may have an adverse rather than a conducive influence on Komi reindeer husbandry. 9.3 The ironies of the periphery The ethnographic part of the thesis started in the reindeer herders' camp and in the reindeer herders' village because these two places together constitute the centre of the life-world of the reindeer herders and tent workers and their family members. By the manner in which I put my argument I have sought to guide the reader in successive steps from the centre outwards into the periphery of the reindeer herders' life-world. The reader and I have travelled from the reindeer herders' tent to the offices of ministries and academia in the Komi capital Syktyvkar, in Moscow and Cambridge. Having arrived here, we may now look back and recall the travel experiences in our own everyday-life context: and now it seems that it is there - far away in the forests and tundra - where tradition is at home. The remoter the area, the IJ.10re it promises to be traditional. However, this is the perception from outside. The notion of tradition, which has been built up on the way from the reindeer herders' camp to the city, is now reflected backwards - straight into the camp. Although the herders do not talk about tradition, they are supposed to act as the "custodians" of tradition. For Komi reindeer-herding families, the relation between "centre" and "periphery" yields a number of contradictions. In what follows, I shall describe this as three ironies. The first irony is that the reindeer herders' life-world is inversely conceptualised to the conventional concept of centre and periphery in wider society, in other words, how the 187 citizens of the Russian Federation usually see their country. The centre of power is Moscow: the periphery of power is the reindeer herders' village. This notion of centre and periphery is sustained by the dominant discourse, and it has a bearing on how reindeer herders, tent workers and their children see themselves. School and the House of Culture (the domain of education) teach the village children that Moscow is the centre and that they live on the periphery. In places such as Moscow and Syktyvkar, politicians, academics and others create and maintain the notion of centre and periphery, which is then disseminated through the domain of education in all parts of the country. The second irony consists of the fact that the public image of the reindeer herders, tent workers and their family members is crafted not by themselves but by those who are far away, in the centres of power, which are on the far-flung periphery of the reindeer herders' life-world. Reindeer herders, tent workers and their family members have least agency in the formulation and negotiation of their image; and yet, the image hits back at them and has a bearing on the way they see themselves. How do the Komi reindeer herders imagine themselves, how do they like to see themselves? I am convinced that they take most of their pride from their experience and their endurance. These are the main qualities that enable them to live and work in the "harsh" environment of the tundra and to utilise its resources. Experience and endurance prepare the ground for the reindeer herders' unsurpassed agency in the tundra. What is the content of the image of Komi reindeer husbandry, as defined by outsiders? The content of the image has changed throughout the 20th century. At the beginning of the century, Komi reindeer herders were seen as being capitalist, progressive and at times even aggressive, in their role as exploiters. After 1930, this notion gradually faded and gave way to the notion that reindeer herding in general is backward and needs to be developed in industrial ways. After 1985, the Northern Peoples, who had been supposed to be "backward", received some kind of rehabilitation, as indigenous and other intellectuals publicly addressed the marginalisation of the indigenous peoples in Soviet society, and attempted to improve the image of these peoples. Nowadays the valuation of the reindeer herders' supposed otherness in time is shifting from negative terms - "backward" - to positive terms - "traditional". The third irony is that Komi involvement in reindeer herding goes back "only" three hundred and fifty or so years; thus, it is comparatively "new" if compared with other indigenous peoples ' involvement in reindeer herding. The gradual development of large- scale reindeer husbandry gave Komi reindeer herding its own distinctive traits, but this 188 development is even more recent. For this reason, I have argued that Komi reindeer husbandry has "always been modem" (page 166). In the Soviet period, in particular, it was propagated as a blueprint for modernising and industrialising other Northern Peoples' practices of reindeer herding. Why, then, would one say that Komi reindeer herders are "traditional" people, as is said in post-Soviet times, or "backward" people, as was said in Soviet times? What is the rationale behind this image? The answer lies in the "otherness" in time (Fabian 1983). In Soviet ideology as well as in Western capitalist society, progress is the prime concern and the prime goal to be achieved. Citizens are expected to act in progressive ways. This ideological demand for progress can only operate with the "backward" or "traditional" as the antagonist to progress. Although the practice of Komi reindeer husbandry was "more progressive" than that of other peoples, and therefore served as a model for the modernisation and industrialisation of reindeer husbandry, the general image of Komi reindeer husbandry had to be, and still has to be, one of a "backward" or "traditional" life- style in order to assert the superiority of the urban, industrial, progressive society. Thus, the further one travels from the centre to the periphery of the Komi reindeer herders' life- world, the more the Komi reindeer herders are othered as "them" in contrast to "us", the members of modem society. By constructing the periphery, the centre is constructing and legitimising itself. 189 Epilogue In the light of the previous discussion, where I summed up my main arguments on agency and the concept of tradition, we can now tum back to the lives of the protagonists of this story. We now have a better grasp of the energy and stamina which are needed in order to make a living in the tundra. We have also seen how reindeer herders and tent workers not only operate within the limits imposed by natural and man-made constraints, but also push on against those limits, drawing on a variety of resources and opportunities, such as personal networks and transportation. Helicopter flights used to be a resource, but now they have become so erratic that they can no longer be relied upon: they have turned into rare opportunities. Let us imagine, however, that we are travelling to the north of the Komi Republic again; we were successful in our hunt for a helicopter lift, sitting on top of neatly labelled milk-cans and boxes and all kinds of provisions which the reindeer-herding families in the village send to their relatives in the tundra. We are flying back to the reindeer herders' camp, to visit the Khatanzeiskii family and their relatives. Things have changed over the last years, and so have personal relations. ZHENIA, IVAN, POLINA, TER' MISH ANDREI, ZHEN'KO, VAN'KO, MISHKO, KOSTIA, and IZHMA FED' are in the camp and rush over to the helicopter as soon as it has landed. They are shuffling around more boxes, milk-cans and large chunks of meat, which will be despatched to the village. The herders know very well that many village inhabitants depend on the meat and fish produced in the tundra; they are aware of the mutual dependence between tundra and village. Some other friends who we had previously met are absent. Many of them now live permanently in the village. LESHA found another job after his military service was over. LYZHASA ANDREI, when he returned from the army, was even more decided that he would no longer work as a reindeer herder. After he had been hanging around for some months in his native village of Ust' -Lyzha, the mayor used her connections to get him a job as an oil worker. So now LYZHASA ANDREI is involved in the same "black business" (chernaia rabota) that he had been criticising three years ago. SASHA has been evicted from the tent. The other herdsmen decided that after all, he is too lazy. He now stays in the village of Novikbozh, is occasionally required by his parents and siblings to work in the garden and does not have "anywhere else to go". Indeed is he unhappy, since he felt much more "at home" in the tundra than in the village. He had 190 been aware of the possibility of being expelled from brigada N° 9 but had been hoping to be accepted by his relatives in brigada N° 10. They would not have taken him either, but then it did not matter anyhow, because of the organisational changes that occurred some months later. The two brigades were merged shortly after t.he slaughter in 2001 because both their herd sizes had become too small, even when the slightly growing number of private deer was taken into account. ZHENIA is now brigadier of the united "herds number nine and ten". VASILII, TANIA, LIUBA and STEPAN retired around the same time. TONIA has left, too: she is now married to a herder from brigada N° 5 and works as a tent worker there. Likewise, YELENA' s three oldest children have all married. ZHENIA' s wife, TANIA, is from K.horei-Vor and stays in YELENA's house with their baby. ANIA and her Russian husband from the city of Ukhta have a baby, too. Instead of moving to Ukhta, they decided to stay in Novikbozh. The husband works on the construction site of an oil company just forty kilometres away from Novikbozh. After YELENA's mother had died, the young couple moved into her house. For YELENA, it is good to know that ANIA and her husband live next door and can take care of her, should the need arise at a later stage. ROZA has moved to Ust'-Usa where she lives with her husband. She had to abandon her plans to study in Syktyvkar. Instead, her sister KA TIA is now in higher education in Ukhta, where she lives in the household of the parents of her brother-in-law. V AN'KO is now an apprentice reindeer herder, he is on the pay-roll of the "municipal unitary enterprise" ( or sovkhoz, as people keep saying), but next year he will receive his call-up. He is looking forward to army service. So does MISHKO, the youngest of the Khatanzeiskii children, who still goes to school, still hates it, and prefers his weekly work as disk-jockey in the Novikbozh House of Culture. Over the years, the existence of an all-year road and the gradual expansion of the oil industry has turned Novkibozh and Ust'-Usa into suburbs of Usinsk - at least it is no longer exceptional that people work in the town ( or at an oil well) and live in the village. More and more people have started to take up jobs in the oil business. I was able to witness the transformation of a predominantly agricultural community into a commuter settlement, in its various stages. The development that has happened in Ust' -Usa and Novikbozh is now well underway in Akis' and Ust' -Lyzha (the two nearest villages). All these villages belong to the former state farm "Ust' -Usinskii"; all these villages have seen a decline in agriculture both in terms of its economic role and its symbolic role for the community. "Ust'-Usinskii" is undergoing hard times and BEZUMOV (the expert on reindeer husbandry 191 in the Ministry of Agriculture of the Komi Republic) indicated that it may become necessary in the very near future to merge the reindeer-herding brigades of this enterprise with those of its western neighbour "Sevemyi". Among the reindeer-herding enterprises in the Komi Republic, "Ust'-Usinskii" has been one of the weakest, in the 1990s as well as i.n the 1960s. We can only speculate about the reasons. After I had finished all the chapters and the appendices, Kirill Istomin informed me that reindeer herders who live further west and work in "Izhemskii olenevod" perceive the herders of "Ust'-Usinskii" as backward. No Komi herders except those of "Ust'-Usinskii" still use open fires inside the tent in the summer. In fact, what brigades N° 9 and 10 use in summer may be called yaran chom ("Nenets tent", cf figure 4a). According to Istomin, the Komi herders from Inta think their "Ust'-Usinskii" colleagues are "like Nenets". It may seem that VASILII, IVAN, ZHENIA and other Khatanzeiskii herds- men confirm the existing ethnic stereotypes by showing less entrepreneurial vigour than their neighbours from Izhma and Inta. But in fact, like everyone else, they try to make a living and to better their living conditions, for their own sake as well as for the benefit of the village community. For this reason, they do not easily accept the nagging of 0SH VAS' and other managers in the kontora. What do the kontora people really know about life in the tundra? And what do people like BEZUMOV know about reindeer husbandry? Even ifhe acts as the Komi Republic's number one authority on reindeer husbandry, he now lives too far away from the tundra to understand the everyday life of a reindeer herdsman. Nor, indeed, have I truly understood what it means to be a herdsman - exactly as ZHENIA . prophesied. Nonetheless, my endeavour has been to sketch out some essential features of their lives. 192 Appendices App. 1: Description of the moving from one campsite to another In order to illustrate migration practices, elements of the material culture and pertinent terminology in Komi reindeer husbandry, I shall describe the procedure of moving from one camp site to another as I witnessed it many times in spring. The procedure is called yamdanka in Russian and vorz 'om in Komi. I divide the vorz 'om into three steps: first, how to take the tent down and to store the two households on sledges; secondly, the actual movement from the old to the new campsite; and thirdly, how to set up the tent at the new site. On such a day, the inmates of the tent get up half an hour or so earlier than usual. Breakfast (the first "tea") is taken in a hurry. The tent workers take all the bedding, the reindeer skins (kovor vol '), the thick plastic foil underneath and the curtains from the sleeping compartments (bologan) out of the tent, fold them and place them on two special freight sledges called siabucha. The next items to leave the tent are the stools and wooden boxes (kud). The tables (pyzan), all the cooking equipment and the supplies usually stored in the so-called front end (vodz porn) are put aside because the floor planks (lata) must now be removed. For this purpose, the herders loosen the tent covers at the front end and push the planks out through the holes. Then they place the planks on the respective sledges (lata dod ') and fix them. The planks on these two sledges serve as a base, upon which the stools and wooden boxes can be stored. After the square rack (ser), the washstand (rukomoinik) and the metal bowl (tazik) have been taken down, the herders and tent workers can start to uncover the tent. The strings that fix the tent covers to the poles must be untied. The herders remove the snow and ice from the two halves of the outer tent cover (niuk) made from hides, fold them and heave them onto the lata dod' sledges. The felt parts of the inner cover (noi) are folded, too, but for the time being, they remain on the ground. Then everybody starts to disassemble the frame of the tent, and the two sets of poles ~' approximately 20 plus 20) are laid upon the chom-uticha sledges. The tent has a basic construction of four poles that are tied together at the top and carry all the other poles. This tetrapod (mokhota) is dismantled, too, and each side of the tent will transport two of the mokhota poles to the new campsite. 193 The only remaining elements that cannot be divided into two are the stovepipe (truba) and the stove (kart pach). The people in the two halves of the tent have agreed that the right hand side (Iv AN) takes the stovepipe with them while the left hand side (V ASILII) has the duty of hauling the stove sledge (kart pach dad') : But beforehand, the stove must be emptied. Two strong men heave it to a place some metres away from the former tent and turn it upside down to remove all the ashes. Once the stove has cooled down, the herders place it on the sledge, fill the inside with dry firewood (kos pes) and throw large logs of "fresh" firewood (ul' pes) next to it, thus making the best use of the remaining space on the sledge. Meanwhile, the other herders and tent workers from each side spread the noi over the poles on the chom-uticha, put the table, cooking equipment and food supplies on top of it and wrap these items in the noi (figure 28). The two milk-cans (fliaga) and all remaining pieces of canvas or nylon claddings also end up on the freight sledges. It is now time for the herders to secure the loads on all the freight sledges and for the tent workers to examine the campsite and look for things that might prove useful in future. Depending on the site, the men collect the trunks that have not been processed into firewood and put them together in conical structures (trenoga). These help the herders' orientation on the way back south and can serve as an instant fuel supply. The whole procedure, so far, has taken one hour or a little bit more. On such a "moving day", it is of great importance that all the oxen are driven to the· camp in time; Figure 28. Packing up the sledges. The young people store the wooden box with the china and all other kitchen equipment on a sledge and wrap it in the noi, the felt cover of the tent. (Near River Yarei-Shor, 24 June 1999) 194 otherwise the brigada members can do nothing but sit on their sledges and twiddle their thumbs. In order to haul all 30 or so sledges from one place to another, some 85 oxen are needed (in summer, even more). After roughly one and a half hours, the penning and harnessing is over and the sledges have been brought into their appropriate positions. The two chom-uticha and the two lata dod' sledges have been appended to the respective sledge "trains" of each side. Such a train is called an argysh; it is composed of a number of freight sledges (the general term for which is dod') and the driver's sledge (dad '). The number of oxen in front of a dad' varies: if snow conditions are good, three or four will do, if there is slushy snow or no snow at all, five or six animals are needed. Two oxen are tied to the back of the dad' and harnessed to the front of the following dod ' and each subsequent dod' requires two additional oxen (three in the snow-free period). The herders usually tie one "spare" ox to the rear of the last sledge because the animals can easily get exhausted or even die. Figure 5 implies that there are four trains of sledges per camp, but in fact, our brigade travelled with six trains with usually five sledges each ( one dad' plus four dod'). The last pieces of equipment (such as the nets) are stored away and all the people have now time for a rest and a "tea". Each half of the tent has their meal by its "box sledge" (yashchik dod') 124, which is the main storage place for Thermos flasks, perishable food and tobacco. At some point, though, IVAN and the herders of the right hand side come over to V ASILII, because they have to talk about the trek, where to find the -new campsite, what to do with the large herd and other issues. These moments have the aura of serious business, and the younger people never interrupt the negotiations of the two senior herders. After the consultation, the trains start moving one after the other. The head of the brigade, V ASILII is also the leader (yasavei) of the caravan. His argysh is followed by TONIA, after her comes TANIA, then PO LINA, LESHA and ZHEN'KO. The two AND REIS and SASHA, who usually do not steer any argysh, look after the remaining oxen and drive them behind. Iv AN has gone his own way, as someone must take care of the great herd. V ASILII stops after a few hundred metres and checks whether all the argysh are all right. The whole caravan moves very slowly, at a speed of five kilometres per hour. Driving an argysh requires experience and circumspection: an exhausted draught animal can easily be strangled. Numerous stops occur during the migration: either the traces are tangled up or the remaining oxen have to catch up with the caravan. After about two thirds 124 In ethnographic descriptions of Komi reindeer herding, this sledge is usually called far' (originally a Nenets word), but the Komi reindeer herders that I met call it yashchik dad '. 195 of the way, there will be another tea break. Such a migration can last anything between two and twelve hours. Before the caravan arrives at the new campsite, which is usually chosen in advance by one of the senior herdsmen, everybody stops and listens to the instructions of the brigadier. The tent workers check whether the new site is suitable and - most importantly - dry. One by one, the argysh proceed to their appropriate position in the new place, establishing the typical pattern shown in figure 5, with the sledges in a roughly sym- metrical layout. After the dad' , chom-uticha and lata dad' sledges have been disconnected and brought into their usual locations, all the draught animals are let loose. Setting up the tent starts with the floor planks, tables, stools, wooden boxes and kitchen equipment. The milk-cans and kettles are filled with snow or water and the kettles and pots will be placed onto the stove as soon as the latter is available. The two sides of the tent are furnished with spruce twigs (m) and plastic cladding. The tent workers can now start to unroll the reindeer skins and the bedding, given that the weather is reasonably good. People from both halves of the tent bind the mokhota together, arrange the tetrapod and add all the remaining poles, except at the vodz pom, close to which the stovepipe will now be installed. Putting the pipe onto the stove and adjusting it to the frame of the tent is Figure 29. Adjusting the stovepipe. (Near Lake Sandivei, 1 May 1999) 196 a moment of some delicacy (figure 29). Two iron poles (kart yv) help to support the stove- pipe and add stability to the framework. Now everybody helps to hoist the noi and to tie the attached strings around the poles. The same applies to the niuk. One has to pay attention to the proper arrangement of the entrance/exit (ohos) of the tent. The duality of tent life shows itself in the arrangement of the ohos:. if the flap opened to the left at the old site, it will open to the right at the new site, and vice versa. After the tent frame is covered and the supply of dry wood has been taken out of the stove, somebody starts kindling the fire. Before the water in the kettles is boiling, people are busy with various small jobs: the boldgan curtains, the rack and washstand are installed. The young herders shovel snow against the lower part of the tent cover, up to 30 centimetres all around the tent, in order to insulate the inside against draughts and cold. Everybody has done his or her share to make the tent look like as it was before, yet it feels cleaner and fresher and still quite chilly when the first "tea" is taken. To appease their hunger, people eat thin slices of frozen meat (kvn yai). The younger herders are sent out to cut trees and prepare firewood. Finally, the last task connected with the migration is the arrangement of the corral behind the tent (yor): on the morrow, the herders push the freight sledges closer to each other and set one net between the two flanks. They also attach additional chicanes, such as wooden boards or whole birch trees, on top of the sledges. The corral is now ready for its daily usage. As a reminder, the procedure described above applies to the moving of the camp as it is typically done in springtime; in other seasons certain practices differ significantly. 197 App. 2: Transition to large-scale reindeer husbandry among Komi and Nenets In order to analyse statements about the traditionality of Komi reindeer husbandry, it is necessary to look more closely at its origins. In chapter 4 (page 62), I stated that Komi reindeer husbandry is a comparatively recent phenomenon, and that the Komi appropriated the skills of herding from the Nenets. I also quoted L. N. Zherebtsov (1982: 165): "Having borrowed from the Nenets reindeer herding and the pertinent implements of work and production, means of transportation and many elements of material culture, the Komi creatively converted them in conformity with the new circumstances". Let us now look at this process in more detail. My description builds upon the works of Istomin (1998), Konakov and Kotov (1991), Krupnik (1993) and others. In the 161h century, hunting was the main source of livelihood for the Nenets, who used domesticated reindeer for transportation. Only in exceptional cases did the Nenets slaughter their domesticated deer. They hunted wild reindeer in order to obtain meat and hides. Examining the development of large-scale reindeer husbandry in the European North, we should follow Istomin's analytical distinction between the Tundra Nenets and the Forest Nenets. The Tundra Nenets hunted sea mammals on the ice of the Barents and Kara Seas during the spring and intercepted herds of wild reindeer during late summer and early autumn, when these occurred in the tundra. In a geographical sense,- their annual cycle was the reverse of that of the Forest Nenets (compare Ingold 1980: 12-16). The latter probably followed a migration pattern corresponding to the seasonal migrations of species such as wild reindeer, squirrels and wild geese. Komi settlement in the Izhma and lower Pechora region ( cf page 62) must have had a negative effect on the hunting and fishing economy of the Nenets, notably the Forest Nenets. It was against this historical and geographical backcloth that small-scale reindeer herding for the purpose of transportation gave way to large-scale reindeer herding for the procurement of meat and hides as well as for transportation. Various scholars, however, differ on the actual reasons that triggered this transition. According to Khomich, "Evidently, the gradual extermination of wild reindeer herds, fust in the European tundras and later in the Asian tundras, played some role. Apart from this, reindeer husbandry started to obtain importance as a means to the expansion of fur hunting, and rich herders began to look after the increase of their herds". (Khomich 1966: 51, my own translation). Khomich's argument that the extinction of wild reindeer led to the emergence of large- scale herds of domesticated deer was later scrutinised by Krupnik (1993: 173-177). Examining cycles of climate change and changes in species abundance, he arrives at the 198 conclusion that large-scale reindeer husbandry is likely to develop in times of cooler climate, a condition favourable for the growth of both wild and domesticated reindeer. Yet once the system of large-herd pastoralism had developed, "elements of a crisis situation apparently did catalyze a broad-scale shift to the new subsistence strategy. [ .. . ] Most commonly, this qualitative leap was in fact correlated with a direct reduction in the caribou population" (Krupnik 1993: 174). Krupnik implies that such reductions in the population of wild reindeer are usually caused by climate change. In Krupnik' s interpretation, though, the trigger which initially conditioned the rapid increase in the number of domesticated reindeer includes a bunch of social factors : "the beginning of social stratification on the basis of wealth and property among the native peoples, which was supported, and in places even stimulated by, the Russian administrators; the demise of previous norms of clan solidarity and support, and therefore a new-found possibility for individual owners to accumulate large private herds; an increased demand for reindeer for transportation in fur trapping and fur trade; and a growing demand for transportation services required by the Russian administration. [ .. . ] Lastly, it appears that by this time experience in selective breeding had accumulated to a threshold sufficient to manipulate the age-sex structure of the herd, and this factor certainly hastened the transition to reindeer husdbandry" (Krupnik 1993: 169-170). Krupnik adds that the Nenets transition to large-scale reindeer husbandry "may have been partially influenced by Komi reindeer herding, which was a full-blown and market- oriented activity since its inception in the early 1800s" (1993: 177). In this regard Istomin has a somewhat different opinion and holds that the development of large-scale reindeer herding among the Nenets and the Komi was a process of mutual influence. The very inception of Komi reindeer herding was due to the accumulation of domesticated reindeer among the Nenets. Climatic reasons cannot have influenced decisively the development because there is evidence that the growth of domesticated herds took place among the Forest Nenets much more strongly than among the Tundra Nenets. This salient difference, Istomin says, calls for an additional or alternative explanation (Istomin 1998: 30-1). He argues that this explanation must be found in an "external" factor, notably in the en- croachment on Forest Nenets hunting grounds by Komi settlers. Forest Nenets clans were forced to hunt on the hunting grounds of other clans, and the ensuing conflicts led to the decline of the tribal organisation. Instead of the clan, the family became the most important economic unit. And instead of the hunter's luck and skill, the number of reindeer became the most important mark of success. Returning to Krupnik's argument that "a broad-scale shift to the new subsistence strategy" must have happened in a state of crisis, which in this case was called forward by the decrease of wild reindeer, there is general agreement with other authors. Referring to Eidlitz (1969), Istomin suggests that owing to the dearth of wild reindeer, the Nenets had 199 ! 11111 to resort to slaughtering their domesticated animals, which constituted the stock of "emergency food", increasingly frequently. Consequently, killing domesticated reindeer for meat and hides became the rule; killing wild reindeer, the exception. Among the Nenets, the regular slaughter of deer has occurred since approximately the 1780s. This transition may be considered as the final step to large-scale reindeer husbandry (Istomin 1998: 33). 200 App. 3: Kolva and the identity of the Kolvintsy The epilogue and some other remarks in the present thesis point to an ethnically particular background of the protagonists of the story: the Khatanzeiskii families see themselves as "somewhere in-between" the Komi and Nenets (cf page 66). In what follows, I present material that allows us to see the Khatanzeiskii families of Ust'-Usa and Novikbozh as descendants of an ethnic group described in the literature as Kolvintsy. The following description of the history of Kolva and the ethnic contacts between the Komi and the Nenets is derived mainly from an article written by Istomin (1999). Not far from the mouth of the very River Kolva, a site was chosen for the construction of one of three churches for the Orthodox mission among the Nenets. The church was erected in 1827 or 1830 125 • Apart from the fact that the newly founded mission was located on one of the busiest migration routes, there were suitable preconditions for cattle breeding and sedentary livelihood. In the eyes of Orthodox priests, nomadism was a sinful way of life, as nomads cannot attend Mass regularly. In fact, a few Nenets families settled down at Kolva. We may suggest that they did not have enough reindeer to keep living in the tundra and on these grounds decided to settle down in Kolva and engage in other activities. Cattle breeding and hay making were practised after the manner of the Izhma Komi; in later decades, its development and intensity even exceeded the level in the neighbouring Komi villages. Subsequently, the population of Kolva consisted mainly of Nenets who led a sedentary life in an "Izhma Komi manner" with its typical mix of cattle breeding, fishing and hunting, but also reindeer husbandry and trade. Trade was pursued, on one hand, with Izhma and trading centres further south; and on the other, with the Tundra Nenets. By trading with the Tundra Nenets, the Kolva Nenets could acquire meat, hides and other reindeer products ( on which they habitually depended, notwithstanding the fact that they had become sedentary). At this point, it is necessary to say a few more words ab~mt Kolva Nenets reindeer husbandry, as the reader might think that it had been abandoned by this group altogether, owing to the requirements of the missionaries. First of all, reindeer husbandry could be pursued on the condition that only part of the household migrated with the animals while the majority kept to the village (the "right" way of life). Again, this basically corresponded 125 Istomin (1991 : 22); Zherebtsov, I. L. (1994: 103). 201 with the Izhma Komi pattern of reindeer husbandry. Secondly, the first group of settlers took benefit from the social institutions provided by the church, the most remarkable of these being the "reindeer herd of God", which has existed since 1869, if not earlier. Thirdly, the 1860s and 1870s saw a mass influx of Tundra Nenets who had lost their herds owing to the combined havoc of over-grazing and veterinary diseases. The Tundra Nenets knew about the "herd of God" and, by borrowing reindeer from this herd they could hope to re-establish their own stock. The "herd of God" was an "institution of economic and social insurance", as Istomin explains (1999: 30). The herd's sacral function, albeit dedicated to the Christian God, blended well with Nenets beliefs around sacred reindeer (Niglas 1998). Komi herders, too, benefited from the "herd of God", although it appears that their perception of these deer was more economic than religious: according to Kertselli (1911: 107), Komi herders called them "kazennye oleni" ("fiscal reindeer", or "reindeer of the State"). In any case, all those who profited from the "herd of God" were obliged to reinvest in it by donating reindeer when they were in a position to do so 126• Although it seems that the service of lending reindeer was not conditional upon residence in Kolva, herders who made use of it became connected with the community and were likely to migrate along the routes passing it. Thus, apart from the core ofNenets settlers in Kolva, who may be deemed Kolvintsy in a narrow sense, there were Kolvintsy in a broader sense: notably those who migrated in the ambit of Kolva and who considered themselves as Nenets, yet had the Izhma Komi dialect as their mother tongue 127• This would account for the differences in Khomich's and L. N. Zherebtsov's comments on the Kolvintsy. While the former stated that they constitute but a small number of Nenets, living on the territory of the Komi Republic (that is, in Kolva), the latter affirms that Kolvintsy also live in settlements in the southern part of the Nenets Okrug, namely in Kharuta and Khorei-Vor (Khomich 1966; Zherebtsov, L. N., 1982: 168). To be sure, in the early 1990s, approximately 30 individuals of Nenets nationality lived in the village of Kolva128• Most likely, these are descendant~ of the Kolvintsy in the 126 By 1929, the "herd of God" with some 2,000 reindeer had turned into the "herd of the regional department of social security" of the lzhma and later Ust'-Usa District (Berkhin (ed.) 1981: 212, annotation). A "reindeer herd of God" also existed in Lovozero, on the Kola Peninsula (Konakov and Kotov, 1991: 59). The income created from it was used to support orphans, invalids and the local school. 127 Possibly, some descendants of the Forest Nenets (who were assimilated by the lzhma Komi) could also be included in this ethnic group, but this rather depends on the question how broadly we want to define the term. We should remember Anderson's and other authors' insight that ethnic categories are flexible and relational. 128 Paul Fryer, Cambridge/Joensuu, personal communication, April 1997. 202 narrow sense. However, V. K. Kanev's remark129 that the people of Kharuta are Kolvintsy supports the view that this ethnic group is not necessarily restricted to the village of Kolva proper. Likewise, Istomin notes that some authors think of the Kolvintsy as an ethnic group already extinct, yet he found evidence that they still exist around Usinsk and other places of the Bol'shezemel'skaia Tundra (1999: 20). In the epilogue, I spoke about lnta reindeer herders' assessments that the reindeer herders of "Ust' -Usinskii" are somehow more Nenets than others. To have an open fire inside the tent is interpreted as a Nenets habit; the Komi supposedly do not do this any longer. For the overall argument of the present thesis, the particular everyday practices of "Ust'-Usinskii" reindeer herders have an important corollary: "Ust'-Usinskii" families may be seen as "more backward" than other Komi reindeer-herding communities. I believe that this circumstance corroborates my argument that Komi reindeer herders generally perceive ~themselves as more progressive than Nenets ones, and that they see the Nenets as "more genuine" herdsmen. The notion of progress - of being advanced - is a subliminal yet distinctive key concept of Komi reindeer husbandry in the perception of Komi reindeer herders themselves. 129 Personal communication (FM 11), Kharuta, August 1998. 203 App. 4: Sergei Vasil'evich Kertselli (1869-1935) Sergei Vasil'evich Kertselli was born in 1869 in B~dzin, a small-town in the Kingdom of Poland, then part of the Russian Empire, probably into a family of Italian descent that had lived in St Petersburg before coming to Poland. Having graduated in 1896, he worked as a veterinarian in the Caucasus but then shifted his focus to the north and reindeer husbandry (Sochava 1934; Schulz, Urban and Lebed' (Eds.) 1972). In 1908 and again in 1909, he travelled to the Bol'shezemel'skaia Tundra and subsequently prepared an extensive monograph on this region (Kertselli 1911 ), which serves as an important source for my comparisons between the state of reindeer husbandry as of now and in pre-revolutionary days. Before and after 1917, he published numerous texts devoted to the "economic significance", the "development" and the "perspectives" of reindeer husbandry in Russia (compare Kuzakova (Comp.) 1994). Kertselli had an extensive record of expeditions to various parts of Siberia. The tundras of northern Europe and the traits of Izhma Komi reindeer husbandry, though, remained the most important benchmark for him because, as he put it in one article, The well-to-do sales that the calf hides (reindeer hides) met with in the suede factories inverted the whole reindeer husbandry of Izhma and transformed it from the state of subsistence economy (natural'noe khoziaistvo) into an industrial state ... . . . this suede production presented, no doubt, a progressive factor in the business of the Arkhangel'sk [region's] reindeer husbandry, permitting to make it [more] regular and placing it on a fully definite economic footing." (Kertselli 1929: 114, my own translation) Kertselli regarded the Izhma Komi mode of reindeer husbandry as exemplary for the development of reindeer husbandry in the Soviet Union as a whole. His recommendations on how to make Soviet reindeer husbandry "industrialised" and "progressive" attracted the attention of the members of the Committee of the North and, more generally, proponents of the industrialisation of agriculture. Perhaps we may characterise Kertselli as one of the inventors of the open-air meat factory in the Soviet North (cf page 101). Striving to improve the system of reindeer husbandry led Kertselli to participate in the organisation of a bacteriological laboratory somewhere "on the Pechora" (perhaps in Izhma) in 1909-10. Yet it was shut down after only three years, on the grounds of political and personal altercations and the ensuing scandals, as Kertselli put it (1929: 117-118). In those years, he must have felt that his work and scholarship were widely being under- appreciated, which also comes to the fore in his undisguised enmity to the biologist 204 Zhuravskii (1882-1914) 130• The latter initiated the foundation of a zoological (since 1905, agricultural) research station in Ust'-Tsil 'ma and passionately believed in the region' s future as an area of coal-mining and the possibility of land cultivation in the Bol'she- zemel'skaia Tundra. Kertselli could never really acquire the fame that his opponent enjoyed (a fame still present in the Pechora Region today). However, Kertselli's main success was yet to come. Having helped to set up the Institute of Reindeer Husbandry in Leningrad (probably in 1931), he had gained expert authority among the members of the Committee of the North, with the result that his ideas became popular with Party officials. The government sought to implement many of Kertselli's suggestions, such as the production of tinned venison and the keeping of reindeer like cattle, under sedentary conditions (izbennoe olenevodstvo ). He also participated in the organisation of reindeer- herding state farms in various parts of the Soviet Union on the spot (e.g. in the Chukchi Region, cf Omruv'e 2000). Kertselli died on 5 March 1935 in Leningrad. Although his name is almost forgotten, his idea of turning reindeer husbandry into an "industrialised" and "highly productive" business has largely driven Soviet and post-Soviet reindeer herding. 13 ° Cf pp. 30, 70-77, 81 -82, 106-107 in Kertselli' s monograph (1911). 205 App. 5: Khoseda-Khard Soon after May 1925, when the Committee of the North (Komitet Severa) had taken the decision to build the first culture bases (L'vov 1926), a first team was detached to select a site for a base in the Bol'shezemel'skaia Tundra. A suitable place was found some 30 kilometres upstream from Kharuta and the settlement-to-be became known as Khoseda- Khard ("the house at [the river] Khoseda", in Nenets language). A trading post was established here as early as 1925. According to the local historian V. K. Kanev (2001: 19- 20), this measure noticeably improved the procurement of the inhabitants of nearby Kharuta and the hamlets downstream, which had not yet recovered from the effects of the civil war on trade and supplies in this region. The culture base itself was constructed in two consecutive summers, and ready to operate in late 1927. In line with the standardised concept of culture bases, Khoseda-Khard comprised a school, a hospital, a bathhouse, a veterinary station and a "House of the Natives" (Dom tuzemtsev), a "House of Culture" for Soviet citizens in statu nascendi. This group of buildings and the Russians and Izhma Komi working in them were conceived as an outpost of the Soviet project of bringing education, enlightenment (prosveshchenie ), hygiene and other "cultural" values to the nomadic natives (cf pp. 52, 161-162). From the point of view of reindeer-herding families, the trading post and the veterinary station were certainly the main attractions. Altogether, Khoseda-Khard operated very successfully when compared with other culture bases131 • Sovietisation experiences in the Nenets Okrug could be taken as a model case for other regions of the Soviet Far North. Khoseda-Khard also served as an administrative centre. It inherited this function from the village of Kolva and this transfer exemplifies the complex bonds between Kolva and the Khoseda area, which later became part of the Nenets Okrug. Both sites, it should be remembered, were connected by the same reindeer migration route and both sites shared a regional ethnic identity - that of the Kolvintsy (cf page 66 .and appendix 3). Kolva represented the most expedient place for the foundation of a Samoied (Nenets) Tundra Soviet, as it happened in 1924. But in fact, the Samoied Tundra Soviet initially migrated together with the reindeer-herding households. The chairpeople and secretary of the Soviet had their own chum, their own reindeer herd, their own sledges etc. Consequently, they 131 For the development of the cultural bases in general, see also Chebotarevskii (1930); Suslov (1934); Terletskii (1935). 206 spent their time in Kolva only in late autumn and early spring. With the inauguration of the cultural base, the tundra Soviet itself became sedentary and resided thereafter in Khoseda- Khard. The same occurred with the two neighbouring tundra soviets 132• In a way, by 1927- 29 the administrative divisions, which in the tundra had previously been volatile and unbounded, became rigid and fixed (the same would occur some years later with the collective farms and state farms). The delineation between the Komi Autonomy Oblast' and the newly-founded Nenets Okrug created a curious situation whereby Khoseda-Khard was actually located on the territory of the Komi Autonomous Oblast' 133 • The boundary between the two regions was adjusted in the mid-1930s (Atlas Respubliki Kami 2001: 395). Considering the multitude of administrative changes and the unclear "spheres of interest", one cannot exclude the possibility that reindeer herders in this region were collectivised more than once: by instructors sent from the administration of the Nenets Okrug as well as by instructors sent from the administration of the Ust' -Usa District. In their zest for collectivisation, the instructors of the Nenets Okrug may have been quicker than those of the Komi Autonomous Oblast', albeit by a few months. While Komi officials (Izhma and Ust'-Usa) complained in November 1931 that "the work is done extremely poorly" and did not know where to track down the last instructor, collectivisation labour emanating from Khoseda-Khard showed more results, probably owing to the goals of the cultural base, its location and its facilities. By November 1931, in the surroundings of Khoseda-Khard four kolkhoz farms were up and running - officially, at least'34. · In order to strengthen the connections between the centre and the far south-eastern comer of the Nenets Okrug, postal services by reindeer (in winter) or by horse (in summer) were operating since 1938. The postal route went across the migration routes of the reindeer herds and connected Nar'ian-Mar with Khorei-Vor, Konkovor, Khoseda-Khard 132 The three tundra (nomadic) .soviets had numbers: First Tundra Soviet (Siavta migration route); Second Tundra Soviet (Khoseda-Khard migration route); and Third Tundra Soviet (Karataika migration route), as of 1925. (FM 28: excerpt from a document in the State Archive of the Nenets Okrug. Gosudarstvennyi ark.hiv Nenetskogo avtonornnogo okruga, fond 187, opis ' 1, delo 6, list 78; and fond 187, opis' 1, delo 3, list 6. 133 Compare the case ofKharuta (page 216). 134 The data on these four collectives slightly contradict each other, as regards the exact chronology. Here I am comparing data from the official description of the collective farm "Rassvet Severa" (FM 28) with data from V. K. Kanev's publication (2001: 21-3). The first kolkhoz to come into being was "Druzhba", comprising the two hamlets of Siavta and Il'ia-Van' and founded on 21 April 1930 (or perhaps in December 1929). The second was "Polok.ha", based in Kharuta and founded on 7 March 1930 ( or perhaps in January 1930). The third was "Zvezda", based in Yegor-Van' and founded in 1931 (or perhaps in February 1930). Further, there was an association for joint reindeer-herding (TSVO) "Voi tov" or "Voite", which existed after 1931, ifwe rely on the description ofthe collective farm "Rassvet Severa". V. K. Kanev states that the TSVO "Voi tov" bad already been founded in 1926 but this seems doubtful, considering that the "First Nenets Reindeer-Herding Kolkhoz" was hailed as the first in the entire Nenets area only in March 1929. 207 and Siavta (from there it was only a short distance to the upper Usa and the projected railway line) 135 • Nowadays, such a journey would seem next to impossible, unless made by helicopter (but then, nowadays helicopters are scarcer than the postal sledge "services" of those days). The hamlets and reindeer herders' tents were used as staging posts. Horses and reindeer had to be provided by the settlers and reindeer herders. Effectively, the govern- ment renewed (or continued) the obligatory transport services (dorozhnaia povinnost') that the rural inhabitants had known from pre-revolutionary times. Part of the postal route used to be POLINA's way to school (page 36). She was a pupil of V. K. Kanev, the teacher and local historian quoted more than once in this thesis. In the late 1960s, when POLINA attended Kanev's classes, the school had already been relocated from Khoseda-Khard to Kharuta. The whole settlement of Khoseda-Khard was abandoned in 1956, and the buildings were relocated to Kharuta, for a number of reasons. Here I shall only describe the general political premises. Those were the days when the Soviet government decided to enhance its policies of sedentarisation ( osedanie) of nomadic households, and amalgamation (ukrupnenie) of small collective farms; in other words, to replace "nomadism as a way of life" (bytovoe kochevanie) by "production nomadism" (proizvodstvennoe kochevanie) 136• Again, the ultimate goal was the "industrialisation" of reindeer husbandry, as proposed by Kertselli and other Soviet experts. Agricultural enterprises of the new style needed an "economic base" (khoziaistvennyi tsentr) and Kharuta was chosen to fulfil this function for the new kolkhoz "Rassvet Severa", which combined the three small kolkhoz farms that had existed in this region before 137• The only building that still exists on the site of the previous district centre Khoseda-Khard is the meteorological station, inhabited by two families throughout the year. Together with a memorial erected on the initiative of V. K. Kanev in remembrance of the previous settlement, the station serves as a landmark for some of the reindeer-herding brigades -of "Rassvet Severa" and "U st'-U sinskii". 135 Kanev, V. K. (2001: 24). Compare Golubkova (1987: 203-250), who describes vividly how she and her companions travelled on this route from Nar'ian-Mar to Vorkuta shortly after 1944. 136 These measures have been discussed elsewhere (Anderson 2000: 56-62; Fondahl 1998: 67-71; Vitebsky 1992; to give just a few references to publications in English language). I just want to emphasise that they affected the reindeer-herding communities of the Nenets Okrug more than those of the Komi ASSR ( cf chapter 6, page 37). The politico-technical approaches to reindeer husbandry and ways of increasing its productivity are well illustrated by the book ofLashov and Litovka (1982). Lashov also published several articles concerning the process of sedentarisation particularly in the Nenets Okrug (cf Kuzakova (Comp.) 1994: 147-8). 137 "Polokha" and "Zvezda" were united in the new enterprise "Rassvet Severa" in May 1954 and "Druzhba" joined in 1959 (FM 28; Kanev, V. K. 2001: 33-5). Although the amalgamation (ukrupnenie) of collective farms had its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, earlier cases occurred in the late 1930s and 1940s. For example, "Voi tov" was absorbed by "Polokha" in July 1942. 208 and Siavta (from there it was only a short distance to the upper Usa and the projected railway line) 135 • Nowadays, such a journey would seem next to impossible, unless made by helicopter (but then, nowadays helicopters are scarcer than the postal sledge "services" of those days). The hamlets and reindeer herders' tents were used as staging posts. Horses and reindeer had to be provided by the settlers and reindeer herders. Effectively, the govern- ment renewed ( or continued) the obligatory transport services ( dorozhnaia povinnost ') that the rural inhabitants had known from pre-revolutionary times. Part of the postal route used to be POLINA's way to school (page 36). She was a pupil of V. K. Kanev, the teacher and local historian quoted more than once in this thesis. In the late 1960s, when POLINA attended Kanev's classes, the school had already been relocated from Khoseda-Khard to Kharuta. The whole settlement of Khoseda-Khard was abandoned in 1956, and the buildings were relocated to Kharuta, for a number of reasons. Here I shall only describe the general political premises. Those were the days when the Soviet government decided to enhance its policies of sedentarisation ( osedanie) of nomadic households, and amalgamation (ukrupnenie) of small collective farms; in other words, to replace "nomadism as a way of life" (bytovoe kochevanie) by "production nomadism" (proizvodstvennoe kochevanie) 136• Again, the ultimate goal was the "industrialisation" of reindeer husbandry, as proposed by Kertselli and other Soviet experts. Agricultural enterprises of the new style needed an "economic base" (khoziaistvennyi tsentr) and Kharuta was chosen to fulfil this function for the new kolkhoz "Rassvet Severa", which combined the three small kolkhoz farms that had existed in this region before 137. The only building that still exists on the site of the previous district centre Khoseda-Khard is the meteorological station, inhabited by two families throughout the year. Together with a memorial erected on the initiative of V. K. Kanev in remembrance of the previous settlement, the station serves as a landmark for some of the reindeer-herding brigades of "Rassvet Severa" and "Ust'-Usinskii". 135 Kanev, V. K. (2001: 24). Compare Golubkova (1987: 203-250), who describes vividly how she and her companions travelled on this route from Nar'ian-Mar to Vorkuta shortly after 1944. 136 These measures have been discussed elsewhere (Anderson 2000: 56-62; Fondahl 1998: 67-71; Vitebsky 1992; to give just a few references to publications in English language). I just want to emphasise that they affected the reindeer-herding communities of the Nenets Okrug more than those of the Komi ASSR ( cf chapter 6, page 37). The politico-technical approaches to reindeer husbandry and ways of increasing its productivity are well illustrated by the book ofLashov and Litovka (1982). Lashov also published several articles concerning the process of sedentarisation particularly in the Nenets Okrug (cf Kuzakova (Comp.) 1994: 147-8). . 137 "Polokha" and "Zvezda" were united in the new enterprise "Rassvet Severa" in May 1954 and "Druzhba" joined in 1959 (FM 28; Kanev, V. K. 2001: 33-5). Although the amalgamation (ukrupnenie) of collective farms had its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, earlier cases occurred in the late 1930s and 1940s. For example, "Voi tov" was absorbed by "Polokha" in July 1942. 208 App. 6 Reindeer turnover in the reindeer-herding brigades and productivity indicators for 1999, [state farm] "Ust'-Usinskii" :source: MIIllStry OI A gncunure or me J<..om1 Kepuouc {US Ju Iv 2000, bv courtesy of mcrease total expenditure productive expenditure increase other killed for slaughter outoffuesefur bonus deer other productive expenditure total by birth increase comrmmal [for success- productive head of deer [higde] ful work] expenditure Family name of brig. at beginning nutrition brigadier No. of the year head head head quintalsL W* head head head head quintalsL W* [l] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] Filippov Andrei N2 1 1173 432 - 235 128.7 61 - - 235 128.7 Valentinovich 1 Vaniuta Maksim Yegorovich N2 3 955 330 - 91 55.6 57 - - 91 55.6 Chuprov Vitalii N2 5 1000 360 - 181 103.4 56 - - 181 103.4 lvanovich Anufriev Yakov N26 1325 480 - 278 140.4 62 - - 278 140.4 Yegorovich Filippov Ivan N2 7 1387 520 - 192 105.6 67 - - 192 105.6 Vladimirovich Khatanzeiskii Vasilii N29 1090 370 - 166 93 .2 57 - - 166 93.2 Mitrofanovich Khatanzeiskii N210 1078 400 - 94 52.3 50 - - 94 52.3 y evgenii Alekseevich Grand total of the (7) 8008 2892 - 1237 679.0 410 - - 1237 679.0 state farm Previous year (7) 10329 3520 1828 926.0 412 1828 926.0 ± [difference] - 2321 -622 - 591 - 247.0 -2 - 591 -247.0 * "quintals LW" = quintals (tsentner) (100 kg) of live weight 209 App. 6 (continued) Reindeer turnover in the reindeer-herding brigades and productivity indicators/or 1999, [state/arm] "Ust'-Usinskii" (continued) total expenditure [ continued] meatpro- meatpro- average pm:ent- presetV- proouct- wccinaled duction duction Jiveaju ageof ationof iveouq:m agrinst: unproductive expenditure c~ perlOO ofcm- furnales* adultcm- ofcalves g;rlfly bybirth+ Januaty realised, in1he perlOO larvae plague trampling down [other] unproductive byaju), reincm'. ' herd, Januaty I [killed by [killed by losses expenditure remales* diseases] predators] total head of deer at in in in in in end of the year quintais quintais kilograms percmt percmt total calves total calves · total calves total calves total female* (tsentner) (tsentner) [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] N2 I 221 144 28 15 359 94 608 253 762 339 -200 -17.0 54.8 44.5 69.7 30.3 250 N23 153 98 16 10 210 66 379 174 815 344 -64 -6.7 61.1 42.2 78.5 33.9 950 N2 5 174 113 15 7 135 14 324 134 855 356 - 23 -2.3 57.1 41.6 81.0 46.5 1100 N26 198 120 23 17 - - 221 137 1306 671 +127 +9.6 50.5 51.4 93.7 49.0 1450 N2 7 204 131 24 14 621 177 1041 322 866 463 - 314 - 22.6 55.0 53.5 51.8 26.2 1050 N29 186 124 21 10 348 8 555 142 739 302 - 221 -20.3 56.1 40.9 62.7 42.2 1100 N210 188 123 18 12 455 149 661 284 723 347 - 254 -23.5 55.7 48.0 65.0 19.5 1100 Grand 1324 853 145 85 2128 498 3597 1436 6066 2812 - 937 - 11.7 54.9 46.4 73.0 35.4 7000 total I I Previous 1315 558 383 164 2315 725 4013 1447 8008 4111 - 820 -7.9 50.6 51.3 75.2 42.1 9100 year [ difrerence] +9 +295 -238 -79 - 187 - 227 -406 -11 - 1942 -1299 * "female" = female deer older than two years 210 App. 7 Reindeer turnover in the reindeer-herding enterprises and productivity indicators for 1999, Komi Republic ~ource: Mm1srrv or A o-1cu1ture or tne 1'.om1 Kepuonc l l lS Jury LUUU, oy counesy or L . v . tsezumov J increase total expenditure productive expenditure increase other killed for slaughter out of these fi.r bonus deer other productive expenditure total by birth increase communal [for success- productive No. head of deer [rngrle] ful work] expenditure Name of enterprise of at beginning nutrition [ central location] brig. of the year head head head quintals L W* head head head head quintals LW* [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] PSK "Izhemskii 23 27892 10566 774 6413 3351 503 194 558 7165 3771 Olenevod" [Siziabsk] Sovkhoz "Sevemyi" 8 11163 4373 - 2741 1340 302 - - 2741 1340 [Mutnyi Materik] Sovkhoz 7 8008 2892 - 1237 679 410 - - 1237 679 "Ust'-Usinskii" [Ust'-Usa] AO "Sovkhoz 5 10326 5334 - 2034 1159 123 - 66 2100 1214 Bol'shaia Inta" [Inta] Gosprornkhoz 4 8162 3676 - 1182 751 - - - 1182 751 "Intinskii" [Petrun' ] MUSP "Fion" 3 5563 1800 - 695 498 - - 24 719 519 [Abez'] PSK "Olenevod" 7 12835 5430 358 4227 2234 - 78 - 4305 2292 [Vorkuta] I I Grand total, 57 83949 34071 1132 18529 10012 1338 272 648 19449 10566 Komi Republic Results 1998 56 92507 32981 69 19770 11161 1245 194 821 20785 11732 1999 ± 1998 - - +1090 +1063 -1241 - 1149 +93 +78 - 173 -1336 - 1166 Results 1997 57 91898 39024 1136 28183 17045 1249 467 764 29414 17792 1999 ± 1997 - - -4953 -4 -9654 - 7033 +89 -195 -116 - 9965 - 7226 * "quintals LW" = quintals (tsentner) (100 kg) oflive weight 211 App. 7 (continued) Reindeer turnover in the reindeer-herding enterprises and productivity indicators for 1999, Komi Republic (continued) total expenditure [ continuedj meatpo- meatpo- average percent- presav- prcx.luctive vaccinated duction duction liveaj'It ageof ationof outputof ~ unproductive expenditure (increase perlOO ofdefr females* adultdefr calves per g;idfly bybir1h+ January realisoo, intbe 100 larvae plague trampling down [other] unproductive byaj'It1 reincicer ' herd, January [killed by [killed by losses expenditure females* diseases] predators] total head of deer at in in in in in end of the year quintals quintals kilograms percent percent total calves total calves total calves total calves total female* (tsentner) (tsentner) [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] "lzhem- 3251 1502 862 139 1343 393 5456 2034 26611 13055 +2157 +7.7 52.2 49.6 87.7 60.0 28800 skii 01." "Sever- 1217 423 247 44 727 - 2191 467 10604 5535 +865 +7.7 48.9 52.5 84.6 64.0 15000 nyi" "Ust'- 1324 853 145 85 2128 498 3597 1436 6066 2812 - 937 -11.7 54.9 46.4 73.0 35.4 7000 Usinskii" "Bol'shaia 527 252 99 44 3068 2056 3694 2352 9866 5691 +878 +8.5 57.8 57.7 87.0 50.5 12800 Inta" "lntin- 1487 700 1046 988 513 213 3046 1918 7610 3812 +462 +5.7 63.5 50.1 86.2 40.8 1600 skii" "Fion" 571 284 275 150 1126 566 1972 1000 4672 2678 -125 - 2.2 72.2 57.3 81.6 29.5 - "Olene- 306 242 - - 2982 919 3288 1161 11030 6869 +657 +5.1 52.8 62.3 83.4 53.4 12600 vod" Grand 8683 4256 2674 1450 11887 4645 23344 10368 76459 40452 3957 4.7 54.0 52.9 84.5 52.0 77800 total 1998 9441 4978 2429 563 8953 3099 20823. 8640 83949 45518 5673 6.1 56.4 54.2 86.6 50.9 45600 ± -758 - 722 +245 +887 +2934 +1546 +2521 +1728 - 7490 - 5066 -1716 - 1.4 -2.4 -1.3 -2.1 +1.1 +32200 1997 4116 1357 1112 272 4909 1485 10317 3114 92507 47842 177 13 19.3 60.5 51.7 92.4 76.4 55500 ± +4567 +2899 +1562 +11 78 +6978 +3160 +13027 +7254 - 16048 -7390 - 13576 - 14.6 -6.5 +1.2 -7.9 -24.4 +22300 * "female" = female deer older than two years 212 App. 8 Head of reindeer, Nenets Autonomous Okrug and Komi Republic, as of 1 January 2000 Compiled by Joachim Otto Habeck, March 2001 with later amendments Name of enterprise Central base of Administratively (in geographical order from west to east) enterprise located in "Kolguevskii" Bugrino (Kolguev) Nenets AO "Kanin" Nes' Nenets AO "Voskhod" Oma Nenets AO "lndigskii" Indiga Nenets AO "Zapoliar'e" Nizhniaia Pesha Nenets AO "Nar'iana-Ty" Khongurei Nenets AO "Nar'ian-Marskoe OPKh" Nar'ian-Mar Nenets AO "imeni Vyucheiskogo" Nel'minNos Nenets AO "Kharp" Krasnoe Nenets AO "Yerv" Krasnoe Nenets AO "Izhemskii olenevod" Siziabsk Komi Republic "Druzhba narodov" Karataika Nenets AO "Put' Il'icha" . Khorei-Ver Nenets AO "Severnyi" Mutnyi Materik Komi Republic "Ust'-Usinskii" Ust' -Usa Komi Republic "Rassvet Severa" Kharuta Nenets AO "Bol'shaia Inta" Inta Komi Republic "Intinskii" Petrun' Komi Republic "Fion" Abez' Komi Republic "Krasnyi oktiabr"' Ust'-Kara Nenets AO "Olenevod" Vorkuta Komi Republic Private herders (so-called farmers, "Yamb-To" and others) TOTAL Head of reindeer Collective Private* Total 5311 1692 7003 12899 9653 22552 5291 1348 6639 7327 853 8180 2384 834 3218 4892 732 5624 5453 902 6355 7265 1806 9071 9133 3753 12886 6133* 6133 26611 8232 34843 5320 1526 6846 11594 3928 15522 10604 1721 12325 6066 1068 7134 12441 1790 14231 9866 2614 12480 7610 4244 11854 4672 1123 5795 2111 1100 3211 11030 5146 16176 12500 12500 174013 66565 240578 The data are based on materials from the Ministry of Agriculture of the Komi Republic and the Department of Agriculture of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Data in italics are estimates of the compiler. * All reindeer of"Yerv" are private property but appear as "collective" in the official statistics. 213 App. 9: Strategies/or improving technologies and marketing in the reindeer business Owing to the changing economic situation over the last ten years, the question of where to slaughter, and how and when, has acquired a new significance and topicality for the managers of the reindeer-herding enterprises in the Komi Republic and the N enets Autonomous Okrug. The example of the enterprise "Rassvet Severa" illustrates the complexity of slaughter and trade relations. The office of "Rassvet Severa" is located in the settlement Kharuta, 90 kilometres north-northwest of the town Inta and actually on the territory of the Komi Republic, but in administrative terms the settlement is part of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. With more than 10,000 collective reindeer, it may be considered one of the strongest enterprises of the Okrug. During the Soviet period, all the carcasses were transported by helicopter from Kharuta to the meat factory in Nar'ian-Mar, the capital of the Okrug, for further processing. In 1997, the factory's payment to "Rassvet Severa" could no longer make up for the production costs (sebestoimost') because the transport costs had increased rapidly. The management of "Rassvet Severa" started to look for markets that were more profitable and to sell the meat in Inta. However, there is no all-year road from Kharuta to Inta, and the lorries must wait until the River Usa is sufficiently frozen, which happens in late December. Keeping the meat frozen during transportation does not cause any problems (because the average air temperature in December is -l 7°C). Yet by this time, the market in the town of Inta is saturated with reindeer meat, as the neighbouring enterprise "Bol'shaia Inta" has already sold its produce. "Rassvet Severa" can only fetch a much lower price. Moreover, the administration of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug threatened to withdraw its financial subsidies for "Rassvet Severa" if the meat was sold in Inta, because the purpose of the subsidies is to compensate the costs for air transport to Nar'ian-Mar. Probably the enterprise will ignore such intimidations and continue to orientate its marketing towards Inta. If the slaughter takes place in September, "Rassvet Severa" could ship the meat by boat to Inta and thus sell their produce for a higher price. To give an idea of the meat prices in this region, I shall quote some figures as they were both before the financial crash of 17 August 1998, and afterwards. The prime cost (sebe- stoimost ') per kilogram (kg) meat produced by "Rassvet Severa" in early 1998 was 7.76 new roubles138• The Nenets Autonomous Okrug paid 2.60 roubles in subsidies for every kilogram produced. Expenditures for transport were estimated at 12 roubles to Nar'ian-Mar and 6 138 Or 7,760 old roubles. The nominal value of the rouble was cut by the Central Bank in early 1997. 214 - ---,, ---,---------------------- --- ~ ---·- -- - roubles to Inta. As the Okrug provided 20% compensation for all flights to Nar'ian-Mar, the effective transport expenses in this direction were 9.60 roubles. In order to recuperate their costs, "Rassvet Severa" would have had to sell their meat for 14.76 roubles in Nar'ian-Mar, but the meat factory gave only 8 roubles. At the same time, "Bol' shaia Inta" sold their meat in Inta for 12 to 14 roubles. When "Rassvet Severa" wa.s finally able to deliver its own meat to Inta (later than "Bol'shaia Inta"), it could sell it for only 8 to 10 roubles and what is more, they risked losing the subsidies from the Okrug. By selling the meat in Inta, the enterprise could not make any profit, it just managed to minimise its losses. "Rassvet Severa" also sold meat at their outlet in Kharuta. For one kilogram of grade-A meat, customers had to pay 12 roubles, for one kilogram of grade-B meat, the price was 8 roubles (FM 6, 23, 29, 32). However, if there were indeed any profits, they must have been low, as the demand for reindeer meat is small in a village with less than a thousand inhabitants, many of which receive reindeer meat through private channels. During the next slaughter season, in late 1998, meat prices had doubled throughout the region. In Inta, meat from private deer was sold for 25 roubles (grade A) and 20 roubles (grade B) per kilogram. The enterprise "Bol'shaia Inta" sold the meat of their collective reindeer for 30 roubles (grade A) and 26.40 roubles (grade B).I was told that "Bol'shaia Inta" could fix higher prices because the enterprise accepts barter transactions and debts, whereas private trade is exclusively based on cash (FM 110). Among all enterprises in the Komi Republic, "Bol' shaia Inta" demanded the highest payments for meat in the 1998-9 season. Farther to the east, in Vorkuta, a kilogram was traded at 15 to 20 roubles; farther to the west, in Usinsk, at 18 to 25 roubles. All enterprises in the Komi Republic were given 2.35 roubles subsidy per kilogram live weight, thus the enterprises receive about 4.70 roubles subsidy per kilogram of meat produced, as the ratio between live weight and meat output is estimated at roughly 2 to 1. After slaughtering and disembowelling, the weight of a carcass varies between 20 and 30 kg; in very exceptional cases, it may amount to almost 45 kg. Considering that one kilogram of smoked reindeer meat fetched about 120 roubles on the market in Syktyvkar as well as at the outlet of Vorkuta's rein1eer-herding enterprise, one can get a rough estimate of the margin to be earned by processing the fresh meat into a delicatessen product. The Izhma enterprise sold meat to foreign customers at 2.50 US$ in the mid-1990s (this would approximately equal 100 roubles in January 1999). Reindeer meat - when it is available - is a cheap alternative to other sorts of meat. In January 1999, grade-A beef was traded at 35.75 roubles per kg in the markets of Usinsk (39.55 roubles in Vorkuta, and 42.00 roubles in Inta). Chicken, which is now the cheapest 215 meat in many regions of Russia, was sold for 45.75 roubles per kilogram in the shops in Usinsk, 31.00 in Inta and 38.15 in Vorkuta139• In fact, many of inhabitants of Vorkuta and Inta (and to a lesser degree in Usinsk) have become accustomed to consuming reindeer meat and the prejudice of reindeer meat being "crummy" is gradually waning. Altogether, if the experts' and administration.s' recommendations were be met, if slaughterhouses, refrigeration facilities, processing plants etc. could be modernised and the demand in reindeer meat increased, then the prospects for the reindeer industry would be very promising, at least from the point of view of the managers ( concerning the reindeer-herding families' perspective, see page 115). Alas, in practice things look more difficult. I shall return to the description of the situation in Kharuta in order to exemplify what can go wrong. The management of "Rassvet Severa" realised at an early stage that refrigerator capacities and processing facilities play a crucial role in the process of improving their economic situation. One of the previous managers succeeded in arranging a co-operation agreement with a US company, which in 1992 erected a small processing plant outside Kharuta. This plant enabled the enterprise to produce reindeer sausage and vacuum-packed meat 140• In addition, with the installation of a refrigerator for 50 tonnes of meat, "Rassvet Severa" had achieved storage facilities that, at that time, other enterprises in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug could only dream about. Until 1996, production figures were quite encouraging and "Rassvet Severa" was deemed a showcase for the whole region. By August 1998, however, the sausage factory and refrigerator were partly out of order. "Rassvet Severa" could not obtain spare parts for the sausage plant, because, as the chairman explained, they had lost the contract with the American company. More than that, the compressor of one refrigerator compound had broken down. My companion141 and I were invited by the head of "Rassvet Severa" to visit their sausage plant, but we never entered it. Our impression was that the executive responsible felt so ashamed of the state of the sausage plant that she would rather get ill than give us a guided tour (FM 34). We were told, however, that someone was on his way to the town of Vorkuta "in order to fix the problem": the director of the enterprise there might be able to help. 139 Statistical data provided by the Economic Department of the administration of Usinsk ("Srednie tseny na osnovnye vidy prodovol'stvennykh tovarov na 20 ianvaria 1999 goda"). 14° Klokov 1996: suppl., p. 11; Association ... 1999a: app. 7. 141 While staying in Kharuta, I was accompanied by a scientist from the Institute of Biology, Komi Science Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences. Generally, I carried out this fieldwork without an assistant or inter- preter. On the grounds of safety, this is no longer appreciated by the regional security agencies and the academic institution that provided the invitation for my stay in the region. 216 In fact, the reindeer-herding co-operative "Olenevod" in Vorkuta is one of the most successful enterprises in the European Northeast ( alongside "Bol' shaia Inta"). The geographical situation of "Olenevod" has led to a number of peculiarities ( chapter 4, page 26), one of them being the circumstance that it is now the only enterprise that regularly uses reindeer pastures on both sides of the Urals, in other words, in the European North and Western Siberia. Its energetic director, Georgii Petrovich PASYNKOV, is known to herders and managers all over the North of Komi Republic, the Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug on the Siberian side. When I visited P ASYNKOV' s enterprise, we discussed the relation between time and place of slaughter. From my point of view, there is a kind of zone - a certain latitude - where in accordance with the annual cycle of reindeer herding and the enterprises' demand for maximum meat output the slaughter would give the best economic result. If the enterprises continue to focus on meat output and slaughter the animals in late November, this zone would be roughly between 67° 00' and 67° 30' northern latitude. Should the enterprises decide to carry out the slaughtering in September, this zone would shift northward. Some enterprises (e.g. "Ust'-Usinskii") have their slaughterhouses at a site favourable in terms of this consideration but lack access to roads or railways, others ( e.g. "Bol' shaia Inta") have good access to the market, but their slaughterhouses are located quite far to the south and therefore they must take into account that they might not attain the maximum meat output. At this point, P ASYNKOV emphasised that Vorkuta is the only place with favourable conditions in both respects: it is located in the optimal zone for slaughtering and has excellent access to transport. For these very reasons, he intended to set up an EU-standard slaughterhouse and processing plant large enough to manage not only the meat production of "Olenevod" itself, but also of adjacent enterprises (FM 123). Of course, this intention is not a totally selfless one. An entrepreneur par excellence, P ASYNKOV is seeking to gain control over the whole reindeer industry in the eastern part of the region. He might succeed. His enterprises' sausage production, smoking chamber, vacuum-packing equipment and fur boot factory work sufficiently well in comparison with other enterprises, although from an engineer's or economist's point of view much remains to be improved. According to press releases in early 2001, the new slaughterhouse stuffed with Finnish technology has been set up and running. The meat comes from the herds of "Olene- vod" itself, from the neighbouring enterprise "Krasnyi Oktiabr"' (which was taken over by PASYNKOV in 1997 or 1998), private transactions with herders in the region and additional purchases in Western Siberia. 217 PASYNKOV's explicit strategy to restructure the slaughtering and meat marketing is probably the best example of the current tendencies of consolidation (by mergers of enterprises) on one hand, and diversification of the produce, on the other. The only serious competitor in the field is "Bol'shaia Inta", which is also trying to enlarge its ambit. The two smaller enterprises between Vorkuta and Inta ("Pion'.' in Abez' and "gospromkhoz Intinskii" in Petrun') will not be able to establish their own processing plants; they are just left to decide which of the big players they should supply with their "raw product". In the long run, with the completion of the all-year road between Nar'ian-Mar and the railway station of Usinsk, or even the remaining sections leading to the south of Komi Republic and central Russia, the economic prospects for the meat factory in Nar'ian Mar may brighten. Additionally, there is the potential for another large meat compound between Nar'ian-Mar and Usinsk, which could service the western Komi enterprises ("Izhemskii olenevod", "Severnyi" and "Ust'-Usinskii"). Actually, an up-to-date slaughter facility for the western Komi enterprises is supposed to have existed since 1996, but its story provides yet another illustration of the unexpected difficulties in the process of modernising the reindeer industry. In the early 1990s, the then directors of "Izhemskii olenevod" and "Severnyi" developed a plan to establish a EU-standard slaughterhouse at Vozei, where the border between the pastures allotted to the two enterprises crosses the paved road north of Usinsk. They managed to gain governmental support and set up a stock company. Seventy per cent of the expenses were recuperated by the KomiArcticOil development fund ( cf page 92). The slaughterhouse started operating in 1996. "Severnyi" abandoned its old slaughterhouse at Kolva-Ty (a couple of kilometres away from that in "Ust'-Usinskii") and sold all its collective deer to be slaughtered to the stock company. The latter, however, paid their debts to "Sever- nyi" with considerable delay and therefore the next year and the year after the management of "Severnyi" refrained from transactions. Instead, "Severnyi" now does the slaughtering next to the slaughterhouse (FM 132). Thus, they still operate independently but take advantage of the nearby road. The other enterprise involved, "Izhemskii olenevod", may have had similar experiences with the stock company; however, they use more th~ one slaughterhouse. Being the largest reindeer-herding enterprise in the region, "Izhemskii olenevod" sends one part of its animals to Vozei and the other part to Okunevo on the lower Pechora. In 1998, most of the slaughter took place in Okunevo (FM 133). In fact, the management of "Izhemskii olenevod" now intend to modernise the slaughterhouse at Okunevo and may even count on financial assistance from the government of the Komi Republic. 218 The hardest blow, however, ensued from a visit by inspectors from the Food and Vet- erinary Office under the European Commission in October 1998. They had just visited a slaughterhouse in Lovozero (Kola Peninsula), the hygienic conditions and veterinary control of which were satisfactory enough to induce a positive assessment to the European Com- mission regarding the import of reindeer meat from this slaughterhouse. Less impressive was the visit to Vozei. The verdict in the final report on their visit reads: "Problems in the second slaughterhouse inspected related in the main to poor hygienic practices and inadequate veterinary supervision. Very little help, if any, had been provided by the central authorities prior to the EC inspection" (European Commission ... 1998: 10). Since this visit, the future of the Vozei slaughterhouse seems quite gloomy. As the director of "Izhemskii olenevod" commented to me, "At present, we are not able yet to work with this technology" (FM 133). What he was speaking about is the lack of well-trained employees, who could carry out the slaughter in an appropriate manner (from the EU point of view). Another problem, in his words, is the poor state of pastures around the new slaughter- house. Considerations about the necessary pre-slaughter pastures (preduboinye pastbishcha) were not part of the planning process. At this point, it is necessary to explain the managers' remarkable zeal to build EU- standard slaughterhouses and obtain permission to export reindeer meat into EU countries. The simple explanation is that the Russian reindeer-herding enterprises know that their meat fetches higher prices on the EU and Norwegian markets. "Izhemskii olenevod" and some other enterprises have already found that foreign companies buy their meat for triple or quadruple the price common on the regional market. On the other side, trading companies in the Nordic countries are looking for cheap reindeer meat from Russia. The example of the new slaughterhouse in Lovozero (Kola Peninsula) has shown that such trade relations may offer favourable perspectives for the reindeer industry in the European part of Russia. It is important to stress that enterprises in the European part are in a much better situation than those in Western Siberia, let alone Eastern Siberia, since they are located closer to the EU and Norway, and have comparatively good road and railway connectic:ms to northwestem Europe. From the Kola Peninsula, the meat can be delivered to the Finnish border by refrigerator lorries within a few hours; for enterprises in the Komi Republic and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, transportation takes considerably longer and is more expensive. Inta and Vorkuta are probably on the margin of the potential area from which meat exports to the Nordic countries make economic sense. Apart from transport expenses, there are a number of difficulties that 219 have dampened expectations, e.g. customs and the issuing the appropriate veterinary papers 142 • Moreover, for obvious reasons, the reindeer herders in Finland and Sweden and their political lobbies are definitely not supportive when it comes to meat imports from Russia143 • Altogether, I expect that reindeer meat exports to the EU and Norway will have rather little significance for the north of Komi Republic and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Therefore, with regard to the meat market, the reindeer-herding enterprises and the agricultural authorities should first aim at increasing the value of their produce on the domestic market without counting too much on W estem consumers. This assessment, though, does not deny the positive effects of exchanging know-how with, and learning from, slaughterhouses and processing plants in the Nordic countries (compare Association ... 1999a: [13]). 142 Personal communication with Birger Vallstrom, Norfryss Polarica, Lovozero slaughterhouse (as a participant of the CAES PhD network, 8 September 2000). 143 Personal communication with Marti Sarkela, head of Paliskuntain yhdistys (Finnish Association ofReindeer- Herding Co-operatives), Rovaniemi (as a participant of the CAES PhD network, 2 September 2000). 220 App. 10: Private herders in Nenets Autonomous Okrug and Komi Republic The first part of this appendix contains background information on the enterprise "Y erv" in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, as it is considered one of the few cases of privatisation that have taken place in this region so far 144. The second part of this appendix is devoted to individual herders of Nenets and Komi origin, who tend their reindeer on both sides of the Urals. Finally, I shall venture to explain the differences in performance between the Komi Republic and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, in the privatisation policy. "Yerv" ( officially called: Association of Reindeer Herders "Y erv") is an offshoot of the kolkhoz "Kharp", which is based in the village of Krasnoe. As soon as privatisation became legally possible, a number of members of this kolkhoz decided to leave the farm and run their own businesses. This demand was met with fierce resistance on the part of the kolkhoz administration and other organisations but this could not preclude the split-up in March 1992. The leaving members received a small share of reindeer and approximately half of the pasture territory, allotted to "Yerv" by the state for 15 years. Theoretically, all members of the Association are independent "farmers" (fermery) with their own parcels of pasture land (but I suppose that in practice there are no hard and fast rules about the use of certain plots). Herders and tent workers do not receive any wages; the revenue they get stems from selling their animals for slaughter. The tent workers and herders pay the staff of the Association (which can be seen as a quite remarkable peculiarity in the relations between herding and non- herding workers in the region's reindeer industry). The staff comprises seven people145 who do the slaughter and marketing of the meat; they are also responsible for representing the "farmers" in all juridical matters (FM 161; Tuisku 1999: 104-109). Again, there are close connections to the petroleum sector (chapter 5): the predominant part of the meat is sold to. geologists and oil workers in Varandei and other places at a reduced rate, since their companies support the Association with helicopter transport. In summer 2000, the Association was about to sign a contract with a company_ called V arandeineftegaz on "mutual help and co-operation" (FM 161 ). The staff has actively made contact not only with the oil and gas companies operating on their pastures but also with two non-governmental 144 Apart from "Yerv", there is a second private reindeer-herding enterprise in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug: "Kanin", officially called the "Community (obshchina) Kanin". I collected comparatively little information about this enterprise, which is the one farthest away from my actual fieldwork sites. It is situated along the shores of the White Sea, enclosing most of the Kanin Peninsula and stretching inland deep into Arkhangel'sk Province. A detailed anthropological study about "Kanin" has been published by Tverfjell (2001). 145 Director, deputy director, two accountancy officers, two drivers-cum-mechanics and a veterinary surgeon. 221 --- - ---~ --- organisations abroad, which strive to support indigenous peoples146• Their project is to find financial support for the Association's building of a trading post at the river Pekhekhe-Y akha ( cf figure 1 ). The absence of a trading post in the remote eastern part of the "Y erv" territory was mentioned as one of the two main predicaments by the deputy director (when I inter- viewed him in July 2000, FM 161), the other one being the increasing number of wolves. Whatever the problems of "Y erv" are, though, the members as well as their representatives have shown more engagement and creativity in tackling them than almost all other reindeer- herding enterprises. To some extent, the widespread resistance against the idea of "Yerv" in the early 1990s accounts for the fact that in the neighbouring Komi Republic, no herder has had the guts to leave the former state farm. Yet the example of "Y erv" also shows that privatisation does not necessarily result in economic destruction and the social erosion of the village community (notably managers of reindeer-herding enterprises see this as a major danger of privatisation). There is yet another example of independent reindeer herding and surely the most unexpected one, considering the tenor of chapter 6 of this thesis. Some groups of herders have never been collectivised. Most of these groups are of Nenets origin, but a few also have a Komi background. In chapter 4 (page 71 ), I spoke about Komi kulaki who sought to escape from collectivisation by migrating to the Urals in 1932. Roaming over the Urals and the lowland tundra on both sides of it, they managed to resist the governmental pressure of the 1930s and 1940s; thereafter the local authorities ignored them, as it would have been too em- barrassing to admit the existence of independent ("capitalist") reindeer herders. Thus, these people entirely dropped out of Soviet society and became officially non-existent: they were not registered, their children never went to school, nor did the young men join the army. Apart from reindeer herding, hunting and fishing largely contributed to their economy and part of the produce was traded for food and equipment. Among the few trading places where the herders were in contact with the Soviet world were small state-run trading posts along the coast of the Kara Sea. When these closed down, the herders had to re-orientate themselves to the coal miners' settlement and railway terminal ofKhal'mer-Yu ~orth ofVorkuta. However, Khal'mer- Yu was also abandoned in 1992. Subsequently the independent herders appeared in Vorkuta and its environs. Thus since 1989, they have gradually re-emerged from oblivion (FM 123, 164; Bj0rklund 1995: 72-73; Ovchinnikov 1998, Association ... 1999a: [9]) 147• 146 "Arctic Alert" in The Netherlands and "Horizon" in Belgium (cf de Groot 2001: 3). 147 So far it is not quite clear to me and colleagues I have spoken to whether the independent herders mentioned above may be considered as one regional group, or rather comprise a diversity of different groups. There is some confusion on the terms people use when they speak about independent herders. On the one hand, in the 222 -- ~----- ------------- Formerly comparatively well-off, the independent herding families were now suffering from a substantial decrease of their herds, probably because of the changes in the network of trading possibilities. Post-Soviet society in the Vorkuta area was shocked not only by their poverty but also by their "lack of civilisation", even the more so as it turned out that the Russian language was widely unknown among these herders' families. In a way, what had happened in the 1920s all over the Soviet North happened once again in Vorkuta in the early 1990s: there was a call for "supporting" and "saving" these poor and seemingly feckless natives. Having acquired citizenship through registration, the independent herding families received access to pensions, social welfare and additional governmental help. A boarding school was established for their children in a suburb of Vorkuta in 1996, but the initial enthusiasm soon gave way to harsh criticism and the school and its staff were alleged to alienate the children from tundra life. Some people see the presence of the independent herders in the vicinity of Vorkuta as perilous for both these herders themselves and reindeer husbandry in the region in general. As the director of "Olenevod", PASYNKOV, sees it, besides the issue of boarding-school education, the town is a dangerous place for these herders anyway because there has been many an occasion of local inhabitants' stealing the herders' reindeer. Most topical for PASYNKOV, though, is the issue of overgrazing (cf page 84). With the general deterioration of infrastructure and supplies in the remote settlements in the wider region, Vorkuta has become the hub for the trading activities of numerous different groups of herders: the independent ones, those of Kara and Karataika, those of West Siberian brigades148, and of course those of "Olenevod" Vorkuta. In combination with the impact of coal mining and cement industry in and around Vorkuta (Virtanen et al., 2002), the increasing Komi Republic they are usually referred to as edinolichniki ("individual [herders]") or Nentsy-chastniki ("the N enets private [herders]"). _ They are now registered as "farmers" (jermery) by the Komi Ministry of Agriculture: in early 2000, there were 14 "farmers" with 4,900 deer (FM 128, 165). According to members of staff of "Olenevod" and various Komi reindeer herdsmen, the independent herders migrate from the interior of the Yamal Peninsula, where they tend their animals in winter, to the pastures along the European shore of the Kara Sea in summer, where they graze their animals on territories officially allotted to various Komi and Nenets enterprises, while they pass the vicinity ofVorkuta in April and October (FM 125 etc.). On the other hand, in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug the independent herders are also referred to as edinolichniki. Since 1996 or so, there has been an apparently rather loose association under the name "Yamb-To" registered in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. It includes some 25 families of reindeer herders, who have about 6,000 animals, but there are no exact data (Association ... 1999a: [9]). Members of Yamb-To are supposed to migrate between Vorkuta in winter and Amderma (European shore of the Kara Sea) in summer (FM 163). 148 Herders of the former sovkhoz ."Gorkovskii" (office located in Gorki, Shuryshkar District, Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug) tend their deer in summer near Yeletskii, 50 kilometres south ofVorkuta (personal com- munications with Florian Stammler, Halle (Germany), 11 November 2000, and Frantisek Bahensky, Prague, 23 September 2001). Some brigades of "Olenevod" Vorkuta have their winter pastures at the river Logas'- egan, 80 kilometres east of Gorki. 223 grazing pressure puts the pastures in the northeastern part of Komi Republic under more serious threat than any other area between the White Sea and the Urals. PASYNKOV' s strategy to mitigate the pressure is based on building or re-opening a number of trading posts further afield from V orkuta, so that the herders do not have to come to V orkuta whenever they need prov1s1ons. I would like to finish this material on private reindeer herding and privatisation with the question: why are there successful cases of privatisation of reindeer-herding enterprises in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug but not in the Komi Republic? My attempt to answer this question draws mainly on the history of reindeer husbandry in this region (chapter 4). The pre-revolutionary herding practices of the Komi, characterised as market-oriented and "comparatively" sedentary, seemed more suitable to the Soviet discourse of modernisation and industrial development than herding strategies and livelihoods of other regions and peoples in the North (compare chapters 4 and 8). "[A]s an ideological premise, the industrial drive of the Komi reindeer herders was readily inherited into Soviet collective thinking ... " (Konstantinov 2000: 60). To be sure, the development of large-scale reindeer husbandry that had been going on in the European North of Russia over the last three centuries involved not the Komi alone, but also the European Nenets and - considerably later - the Saami too. Nonetheless, certain Soviet policies such as sedentarisation and the boarding- school system affected the people in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug to a higher degree than those in the Komi Republic. Thus, the perception of reindeer-herding "models"- other than those prescribed by the Soviet government was probably more alive among the herders' families in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. In the Komi Republic, herders and their families may have felt more "at home" with the Soviet way of reindeer husbandry. By virtue of such different experiences, still present in the memories of the older generation, herders in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug seem somehow more likely to look for alternative approaches to reindeer husbandry. I suppose that the propensity to nomadic life has been higher among the Nenets than the Komi. Similarly, there might be a stronger sense of personal indep~ndence and flexibility in livelihood among the Nenets in comparison to other peoples of the north; at least this has recently been argued in the case of the Yamal Nenets (Golovnev and Osherenko 1999)149• 149 According to Vera Skvirskaya, PhD student at Cambridge University, the Nenets on the Yamal Peninsula do not really care whether or not they are in the state farm - today they are leaving, tomorrow they may be joining again. The Komi, on the contrary, cannot privatise, for they do not have the possibility of obtaining land. She thinks that in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug the question of privatisation depends first and foremost on the availability of pasture (personal communication, 10 January 2003). 224 However, such a historical and cultural slant to the question as to why privatisation has performed differently in the two regions can also lead in another direction. At stake then is not how certain peoples enact their "cultures", but how these "cultures" are perceived from out- side. The outsiders' perception of the Nenets as aboriginal people (aborigennye, cf Ssorin- Chaikov 1998: 281) as opposed to the Komi (who, at best, would be considered indigenous, korennye) has a bearing on the attention paid by Western governmental and non-governmental organisations. We may say that the Association "Yerv" is consciously taking advantage of this public interest. Western publications about the Nenets are ripe with references to "indigenous peoples", "traditional land-use", "traditional environmental knowledge" and, of course, rein- deer herding. Komi reindeer husbandry has been largely absent from this discourse. 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