«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.
From May 27th to May 29th we stayed at our 15th encampment. As you remember, last time we crossed the Limbya-Yaha river. After the crossing women decided to wash clothes. Usually in tundra they wait a sunny and rather warm day, and start washing by soaking clothes in a small puddle and/or plastic tank (as we did). On the picture are our little helper Semyon and Pedava:
We are often eat geese these days. Men are haunting them until geese start building nests. Haunting season is very short by Nenets: it's concidered a sin to haunt a bird when it is already sitting on eggs. This time the herd, devided in three parts, starts actively mix together. Reindeers spread out in tundra looking for fresh green grass. We finished firewood from winter stock, and now pyung (dwarf birch, or Betula nana) is used to make a fire. Normally in the Russian midland nobody would call these fragile twigs a firewood, but there is no other choice in tunra.
On May 30th we arriven on our 16th encampment: N 69º46'40,1'' E 069º16'35,2'', distance from the last point - 2,8 kilomenters, moved at nighttime.
In the afternoon Albina and Alexandra have cut the whole narta loaded with bread (which we've bought in March) - 170 loafes - because is started to mould. Warm spring days are for tundra inhabitants the time to dry bread for Sumemr and Autumn. Women from two neigbor chums started the same drying process, because weather was so rarely favorable for it, and time to stay on the same place was long enough. Usualle women are cutting bread to three pieces along the breadloaf and spread over special nets between two nartas.
We left our nets in winter nartas, that's why first we just places cutted bead pieces in the form of "little chum".
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Then Albina brought the nets and we've continued in the same way as other women. Interesting organization aspect: despite the fact, that all our three families during the year move around the same areas, all them have bought bread in three different trading posts (factories): Ust-Yuribei, Lidino and Sohonto.
Please meet another resident: our neigbors' cat sitting on the chum cover.
Alexander finally has used his spinning to catch fish. Small tundra lakes are still covered by ice, but in rivers and lake's fleet waters one can catch a pike (Esox lucius). In our opinion the fish is big enough to be served for lunch or dinner, but for reindeer herderers it is still too small - all the catch was given to dog, and we are waiting for bigger exemplars.
Because of the night activities it is not easy to adapt to this new lifestyle: we don't know naturally when it's time to go to bed, when it's time to wake up. Local people have a saying: "daytime one keeps an eye open, and nighttime one keeps an eye open", which means no one sleeps.
«Sinyo» – tundra fog:
