When Reindeer are Life Itself
Mutual participation in each other’s existence
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7146/pl.v44i2.151596Keywords:
pastoralism, reindeer, human-animal relations, extended sociality, mutuality of beingAbstract
Focusing on reindeer pastoralism in Sápmi, in northern Fennoscandia, this article explores relations between reindeer and people who live and work with and off them. In North Sámi, a reindeer herd is called eallu, a term deriving from the same root as eallin (life) and eallit (to live). The article examines reindeer Sámi life (eallin) with reindeer (eallu) and the mutually interdependent relations this life involves between family members, kin groups, generations, landscapes, animals, weather, seasons, neighbouring herds, ancestors and a spiritual world. I argue that ongoing negotiations between herders, semi-domesticated reindeer, and the terrain at hand can be understood as a form of extended sociality (Remme & Sillander, 2017), which constitutes humans, animals and landscapes. I suggest that the symbiotic partnership that evolved between humans and reindeer over many, many centuries can be understood through Sahlin’s notion of kinship (2011) – as a mutuality of being between those – here humans and animals – who participate in each other’s existence. The article also addresses the ethical and aesthetic dimensions of this mutual being.
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Websites:
Langvatn, R. (2023, 19. juli). Rein. Store norske leksikon. https://snl.no.rein
Sámediggi: Fakta om reindrift. Den norske Sameting. https://sametinget.no/naring/reindrift/fakta-om-reindrift/?sprak=1
Rennäringen i Sverige. Den svenske Sametin. https://www.sametinget.se/rennaring_sverige-
Visut: A Story of the Reindeer, A Swedish Lapland Story, photo: C-J. Utsi, Text: H. Stenlund, Swedish Lapland, European Union Regional Development Fund: https://www.swedishlapland.com/stories/visut-a-story-of-the-reindeer/
Film:
Fajal, C. (Director). (2011). Jon, the Sami, (orig. Jon, Face aux vents) (film), SLICE documentary channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwhs_I9pPYA
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