Reindeer herding and petroleum development on Poluostrov Yamal: Sustainable development or mutually incompatiable uses

In the Nenets' own language, "Yamal" means roughly "the end of the earth" or "land's end". It is an apt description for a peninsula that juts well out into the Kara Sea from the mouth of the Ob River, and which serves as the northern endpoint of an annual reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) migration route that, for most animals and modern herders, covers several hundred kilometers. For the reindeer, and the herders or their hunting predecessors, this migration has been taking place for at least a millennium, probably longer. Evidence comes from several places, including Yarte 6, a major archaeological site near the south shore of the Yuribei River on west central Yamal Peninsula (Golovnev and Zaitsev 1992). The latest archaeological material at Yarte 6 dates from the 11-12th century, but there is evidence for domesticated reindeer as early as 600 AD (Fedorova1998). However, at that time only a few reindeer were partly domesticated, perhaps only for riding or as hunting decoys. Even in the 12th century there were probably still relatively few semi-domesticated animals compared to wild ones. It is unlikely that intensive breeding began before the 16-1700's (W.W. Fitzhugh, pers. comm.,Director, Arctic Studies Center, Smithsonian Institution, Septmber 1996; see also Krupnik 1993). Post-Soviet reindeer ownership patterns are complex, as many formerly stateowned herds revert to private hands and the so-called 'brigade' system undergoes fundamental change (Golovnev and Osherenko 1999).