Head north, where we enter the Sápmi region. Here live the last indigenous people in Europe : the Sami people. In the middle of October, in Sápmi territory, reindeer herders take over the forests. This is the season when Sami hunt moose, before the reindeer come down from the mountain and the snow sets in for a long time.
Andreas is a reindeer farmer in the northern region of Vilhelmina. He is part of a Sami community made up of five families and 45 members. His family lives in the small village of Blaikliden, an hour west of Vilhelmina, towards the mountains that mark the border with Norway. Andreas divides his life between Blaikliden and Vilhelmina, where he runs a cutting and converting workshop as well as a store. In Vilhelmina, he sells products from his reindeer herding, but also the fruits of hunting and fishing from his community. We haven't really come at the right time of year to meet Andreas. In October, he multiplies his activities: sale of products, moose hunting, cutting and processing of moose which arrive at an unpredictable rate, depending on the hazards of the hunt. So, to chat with him about reindeer herding, we put on our biggest socks, our warmest jacket and our best cap… And we went with him on the moose hunt!
It is almost eight o'clock, the sun is rising behind the tops of the pines. The village of Blaikliden is already wide awake, but there is great silence. Andreas explains to us in a whisper: we don't make any noise so as not to frighten the moose. He tells us the route we are going to take to get to our hunting station. His father is already gone with the dog in the forest. Four other members of the village take part in the hunt and at the same time reach different observation points.
Photo. The trails dedicated to snowmobiles are marked with red crosses
We walk with Andreas to our observation post, following the markings dedicated to the passage of snowmobiles in winter. Arrived at destination, a long wait begins. The opportunity for us to understand that despite our thick socks, we are going to suffer from the Nordic cold! Andreas shows us the evolution of the dog on the GPS monitor and explains how the search for the big brown beast is going. Listening to him, we understand the knowledge, experience and know-how he has.
Knowledge, experience ... Andreas does not only have it for hunting, but more generally for a life in collaboration with nature. The Sami get most of their basic needs (food, clothing, everyday items) from what the nature of northern Europe offers them. The Sami way of life is built around three major activities: hunting, fishing and reindeer herding. Today, although modernity has infiltrated the daily life of the Sami people, their culture, traditions and way of life have remained intact. Proof of the excellent resistance / resilience of the Sami to the standardization of our modern societies. So, of course, we understand why today Andreas's way of life is light years from what we know, which makes us feel like we have everything to learn. Andreas knows it very well: “We are born Sami, we do not become Sami. You have to know how to feel the forest, the mountains, the wind ... If you were not born a Sami, you will never be able to become one, even if you want to.". Installed at his side listening to him, standing, feet chilled by the snow that had fallen in the night, waiting for the game that will feed his community for the year to come… We were crossed by this feeling of a lost link between the "modern man" and nature. A feeling that almost made us blush with shame.
Today is a good day for moose hunting. The snow fell overnight and the footprints are easily spotted. In the middle of the morning, as we resume our walk to a new observation post, Andreas stops. We see beautiful tracks of a moose that cut our way. Andreas kneels down and assesses the freshness of the footprints by touching the snow. We are on a track! For a few hundred meters, we follow the footprints that cross a little forest and a few small streams. Andreas stops by regularly to assess the quality of the prints. After a few minutes of walking, we stop there. The tracks are very fresh and a great plain stretches out in front of us : the perfect place for the observation of a moose. Now all we have to do is wait.
Photo. Andreas assesses moose tracks in the snow
Photo. Waiting for the moose
Meanwhile, in the far west of the Vilhelmina North region, on the border with Norway, Andreas's semi-domestic reindeer (like all the reindeer in his community) roam in small groups in the mountains. His flock, he inherited from his grandmother. A legacy that skipped a generation, since his father did not want to take responsibility for the herd. Instead, he got involved in building traditional Sami dwellings. Raising reindeer has not always been successful for the Sami. For many years, traditional reindeer herders in northern Sweden had to fight to protect their right to graze on the great Swedish expanses, owned by government, privates and forest companies. A fight that continues to this day, even though the Sami people's hunting, fishing and herding activities are now recognized and protected by law. Because if the breeding grounds are, beyond the borders, a subject of tension, here one does not speak about a few hectares: the Sami herders cross Sweden from west to east to raise their reindeer.
Photos. Semi-domestic reindeer grazing in the mountains west of Vilhelmina
Because yes, reindeer have a migratory behavior. They naturally change habitat with the seasons, to gain access to available natural resources. During the summer, they feed on the grasses and plants that grows in the mountain. When winter comes, the reindeer take up residence in the forests, where they adopt a diet consisting mostly of lichens, which they flush out by digging up a thick blanket of snow. Soil lichens in early winter, tree lichens in late winter. Sami herders have adapted to the natural migration of reindeer and kept the herd moving with the seasons. Andreas's herd lives in the mountainous surroundings of Klimpfjäll in summer. At the end of October, the herd is transported by road to the forests around the east coast, to Björna. The herd will return to the west on foot in the spring. In total, the herd travels between 1,000 and 1,400 kilometers over the year!
Photo. Reindeer harem on the mountain road
Among reindeer, males live in harems. The herd of Andreas is therefore made up of 80% females and 20% males. In the spring, when the herd leaves the coastal forests of Sweden for the mountains in the west, the females give birth to a fawn (around 90% of the females in the herd give birth). Life is tough up there for the young reindeer. Several predators roam the area. Bears, wolverines and lynxes live on the backs of young reindeer and kill an average of 20-30% of youngs-of-the-year. Sometimes, reindeer herders face to up to 60% loss from predation. The identification of the young in August will be a first indicator of the number of fawns present in the mountains. Each breeder cuts the ears of the fawns according to a precise pattern, allowing to recognize his membership. On average, adults live between 13 and 14 years. Adult females are generally reformed when their health deteriorates (poor appearance, deteriorated teeth, infertility). Males are slaughtered when they are too fat and too heavy for reproduction. The herd is gathered in September, before the reproduction season, to select adult males for slaughter. At the end of October, the reindeer are gathered again before the migration to the East. The young males of the year are then sorted, which will be slaughtered for home consumption or sale. The young females will renew the herd.
Photos. Diverse vegetation in the mountains where reindeer live during the summer
Andreas mainly sells his reindeer meat to restaurants and in his store, where he welcomes a local clientele and another one guided by tourism. Tourism activity in the region is growing and the pandemic has exploded the movement of Swedish in the North of the country for holidays. In the summer, Andreas and his wife (who is also a reindeer farmer in another Sami community) open a store on the road to the mountains. They sell meat, fish, but also fish-based sandwiches which are very famous for tourists!
Reindeer herding in the Sápmi territory has long been questioned by the populations who colonized this region stretching from Norway to Russia. The Sami sometimes had to deal with the installation of settlers, sometimes with the privatization of their land, sometimes the creation of borders between Norway, Sweden and Finland which have restricted their grazing areas, sometimes the development of mining and forestry activities ... If the right to rear reindeer on the territory is now acquired through the "Swedish Reindeer Husbandry Act", it is subject to rules that have been established over decades and through conflicts. In Sweden, for example, the Agriculture Line, established in 1868 to protect the mountainous lands of the Sami herders, is still relevant today. The line divides the north of the country into two regions: the mountainous west and the coastal east. West of the line is land that ranchers enjoy year round. East of the Line are the forest areas authorized for grazing from October 1 to April 30.
Today, the Sami are free to raise their animals on 35% of Sweden's large mountainous and wooded areas. However, they do not own any land. Their future is therefore closely linked to that of the landowners, half of whom are forestry companies. For several years, a new battle has been raging in Sápmi territory. The deforestation of the northern Swedish forests for timber production is a new danger for the Sami herders, who see the habitat of their reindeer getting poorer every year. Recent research has shown a drastic decrease in the richness of lichens in the forests of northern Sweden (-71% in 60 years), the reindeer's winter fuel. This decrease is closely linked to the expansion of younger and younger forests and the decrease of forests older than 60 years as a result of deforestation.
Photo. Deforested plot in northern Sweden
Eight. That's how many hours we spent in the snowy lands around Blaikliden with Andreas to learn all this! Our feet survived the experience, although they did suffer some phases of numbness. Fortunately, after a collection of dry wood, Andreas prepared a fire. This kept us in shape during the long moose quest. He didn't show up that day. Hunting here is a game of patience. It doesn't matter, let's do it again tomorrow.
Did you know ?
- 1, 2, 3
How many reindeer does Andreas raise? You'd like to know too! In the Sami culture, reindeer herders do not mention the number of animals they own. This is equivalent of showing the extent of one's fortune, a practice that is very badly interpreted among the Sami!
- Faster than winter
In October Andreas transports his reindeer by truck to the forests of the East coast of Sweden. The goal is to be able to move the herd faster than the onset of winter (and snow). In the past, his grandmother moved the herd by foot, or rather… by skis!
- Traditional farming… but also modern !
Sami breeders have appropriated technological advances to lead their herds over large areas. Among these, we can remember two:
- Some well-chosen reindeer wear GPS collars to study their route and locate them, if necessary. Collars are usually placed on the leaders. The information collected is a wealth of information for the management of reindeer grazing by reindeer herders.
- In the fall, before the animals are transported East, the herders assemble the herds scattered in the mountains. Previously, herding dogs or snowmobiles were used for this stage. Today, the reindeer are pushed back by helicopter: a huge time saver for the herders.
- Climate change to the detriment of reindeer
In the Vilhelmina region, the temperature varies from -35°C in winter to a maximum of 30°C in summer. While -35°C is the lower limit, very low temperatures in winter are becoming increasingly rare as a result of global warming. At first sight, the impact on reindeer husbandry is not very obvious, but there is one. As winter temperatures become milder, a meteorological phenomenon that is of concern to reindeer herders is the alternation of freezing and thawing periods, with both negative and positive temperatures. The temperature variations below and above zero in winter lead to the formation of a thick layer of ice at the interface between the snow and the ground. The plants and lichens caught in the ice cannot be eaten by the reindeer, which become exhausted in their search for food. The consequences are catastrophic for reindeer herders, who see their herds starve to death. When it occurs, this climatic phenomenon forces reindeer herders to buy fodder from Swedish farms to feed the starving animals.
- Indigenous people
An indigenous people is a community whose ancestors were the first inhabitants of the territory they occupy. They have a different culture and language from the post-colonial societies that have subsequently settled in the same territory. Today, the Sami people number about 80,000, spread over the northern part of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, in the Sápmi territory. In Sweden, the Sápmi territory consists of 51 regions inhabited by 51 Sami communities. The Sami people live together with the Swedish people, who make up 60-70% of the inhabitants in Sápmi territory.
- Sápmi or Lapland ?
The term Lapland, generally used to refer to the Sápmi territory, is a term whose Swedish origin "Lapp" means "ragged wearers". As you can see, even if the term Lapland has become more popular with the rise of tourism, it is still pejorative. Prefer Sápmi!
- Five things you should know about reindeer
1. Reindeer are deer adapted to extreme, cold environments and poor, acidic soils.
2. The reindeer is an ancient species that once lived alongside the mammoth!
3. Farmed reindeer are semi-domesticated. It therefore still has the characteristics of the wild reindeer, such as its migratory behaviour (it is said that a reindeer that does not migrate "goes crazy") and its instinct to run from predators.
4. Reindeer have very large hooves that allow them to walk in the snow.
5. Gestation in females lasts 7 months, but the development of the foetus can be halted if environmental conditions are unfavourable at birth. The birth can then be delayed by two months!
