Saami, we used to live in the Tundra
Natalya Saprunova
Being part of the last indigenous of Europe, the Saami of Russia lost their nomadic autonomy with the rise of Soviet power in the 1920s. This people who lived mainly from reindeer herding in the tundra, fishing and hunting, were forced to live in apartment buildings. Children of nature, the Saami were depressed at the thought of losing their ancestral rhythms and being penned up. Gathered in the main Saami village - Lovozero, located on the Kola Peninsula in the hinterland of Murmansk city, was from now on considered as a reserve. The villages of Krasnoshchelye and Chalmny-varre were also built on Saami lands to bring reindeer herders together. Settled to work in kolkhozes, they no longer had the right to be Saami: the practice of the language and the wearing of traditional costume were prohibited.
Today, snowmobiles have replaced reindeer sleds, and while Prazdnik Severa ("Northern Festival") is an opportunity to participate in sled races, it's a whole culture struggling to pick itself up. Some 1,500 people still live on the Kola Peninsula, but only 200 speak the Saami language and these are mostly elderly people. Proud of their intangible traditions, Saami people strive to preserve their ancestral practices while adapting to modernity and global warming in the Arctic region.
One of the last Saami hereditary reindeer herders in Russia$1,200
Saami reindeer sleigh in Lovozero$800
Wood storage$800
At the country house$500
Lovozero, “rural colony” for Saami people in Russia$1,100
Saami traditional costume at Soviet school$800
Goods transportation between villages$700
New Year's gift$700
Saami reindeer herder from father to son$1,000
Funeral$1,100
Visiting ancestors at the homeland's graviar$700
Saami kiss$850
Going to save themselves from the abnormal heat$850
Craftswoman$850
At a Saami music festival$1,100
Invasion of mosquitoes$700
Saami flags$700
Saami pictograms$800
Shaman's drum$800
Reindeer walk along Kola Bay$850
Together for more than 70 years$900
Saami Summer Holiday$750
Morning wake up$700
Nina$500
Fishing passion$650