«True people» (Nenei nenecha) – self-name of Nenets, the indigenous people of the Yamal peninsula, and the name of the complex 2015–2016 ethnographic expedition. Project participants and the visitors of the resource will be the part of the reindeer herders's family during the whole year just to «dive» in the casual life of the modern XXI century nomads.
During the expedition, the participants will live in the «classical» Nenets family, fixing various aspects of the nomadic community everyday life. The essential questions are the network of contacts of the nomadic family and interactions of nomads within the course of the route, the modern reindeer herders economic strategies, the use of different technologies and gadgets in tundra (mobile and satellite phones and TV, tablets, snowmobiles, portable generators, etc.).
Throughout the year, on the expedition website photos, videos and text notes will be posted. Visitors will be able to trace not only the stages of modern reindeer herders’ life and their nomadic route, but also will become direct accomplices of the project, that will allow the widest possible audience to imagine a world of the 21th c. nomads.
One of the goals of the project is accurate mapping of the whole nomadic space with the locating of all the points significant for the reindeer herders: camp places, sacred sites, fishing areas, reindeer lichen pastures. Follow thenomadic route on the web!
Nomadic route passes close to the objects of gas production. This proximity creates a number of challenges and new interactions between the environment and the traditional industrial economy. The project will investigate the nature and form of these interactions on the example of a particular family.