Though archaeological evidence points to the beginnings of caribou domestication at 2,000 years ago, the Nenets' tradition of mass herding is no more than 400 years old.
As the Russian Empire expanded eastward from Moscow, other native peoples encroached on the Nenets' caribou hunting grounds in their flight. The Nenets coped by switching to caribou herding, which allowed them to escape the population influx and move northward with their livelihood intact.
(Text adapted from "Nenets: Surviving on the Siberian Tundra," March 1998, National Geographic magazine)
(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Nenets: Surviving on the Siberian Tundra," March 1998, National Geographic magazine)
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