Trip to Siberia: Coexistence with the Nenet

Discover the highlights of this trip to Siberia to live with the Nenet

► The Nenets will welcome us

The Nenets will welcome us, and, following their tradition, we will give them some small gifts or souvenirs for the family. We will enjoy lunch and dinner in the company of a family of Nenets shepherds, who prepare for us some traditional dishes from the Nenet cooking. We will spend the nights in a chum, the national fur-covered teepee of the Nenets, in the same sleeping places as the family does. They will prepare the skins of reindeer for the family, and we use our sleeping bags. During the night, the stove isn’t burning, and the temperature could be the same as outside.

► We will join the Nenets in their daily tasks

We will spend these days living with the Nenets herders’ family, participating in their lives and daily activities.

Reindeer herding

We will immerse ourselves in the world of deer herding, learning more about the life of this nomadic community, dedicated and adapted to the pace of life of the reindeer. We will set out for the main herd by snowmobiles or sledges. Also, we will participate in catching the reindeer, bread-feeding the calves, and sledge riding; while taking photos to document this experience.

Ice fishing

If there is a possibility, on this trip to Siberia, we will join Nenets men in ice-fishing and checking the nets. When the Nenets settle in a new camp after migration, they assemble a team of nets with which they carry out this task for several months.

► We will delve into the role of the Nenets woman

In this trip to Siberia, we will delve into the role of women within this society, and we will understand the importance of the distribution of tasks among its members. The women are the ones who build the houses, treating and weaving the reindeer skin to make the niuk (cover for the chum). In addition, they are in charge of making the clothes of the whole family.

© Photos by Aníbal Bueno during a trip to Siberia.

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