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Issue 2 (47)

NOMADIC MOBILITY OF THE KOMI-IZHEM HERDERS: SNOWMOBILE REVOLUTION AND MARKET RESTORATION
Year	2015	Number	2(47)
Pages	17-25	Type	scientific article
UDC	39(470.531)	BBK	63.521(=664)
Authors	Istomin Kirill V.	Topic	MOBILITY IN THE ARCTIC
Summary	The culture and everyday life of the Komi-Izhem herders living in the Komi republic changed significantly in the first decade of the 21st century. These changes were caused, on the one hand, by the completion of the process of herders adaptation to market economy conditions, which was manifested by a partial restoration of the market-driven nature of the Izhem reindeer herding (market restoration), and, on the other — by the rapid spread of snowmobiles which caused transformations comparable to the developments in the northern Scandinavia as a part of the so called snowmobile revolution. The most notable change was the decrease of nomadic mobility in winter periods. Part of the herders population completely abandoned the winter nomadism practices: in winter periods they live in villages or stationary communities herding reindeer in the radius of 40–60 km around them. Thanks to snowmobiles the herders can check and round up these herds regularly and, therefore, retain control over them. The transition to a semi-settled way of life allowed the herders to trade in their personal herds products: reindeer meat, antlers and, most important, fur boots and hats, and thus adapt successfully to market conditions. On the other hand, the decrease of nomadic mobility made the herders more vulnerable to changes of pasturing conditions (particularly snow cover quality), because the herders could not respond to them quickly enough by changing pasture lands. Use of snowmobiles allows the herders to keep the herds in the same pastures for longer time periods and thus intensify grazing, which creates additional risks. Finally, pasturing reindeer close to villages increases the risk of poaching by their sedentary inhabitants. This creates additional risks of potential conflicts in the society.
Keywords	Reindeer herding, nomadic mobility, environmental and social adaptation, postsocialist transformation, Komi, Izhemtsy, Bolshezemelskaya tundra
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