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Factors in the Adaptation of Reindeer Herders to Caribou on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska William Schneider, Knut Kielland, and Gregory Finstad

Abstract. Over the last century, reindeer herding has provided a major economic base in Eskimo villages on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska, and has come to represent an important dimension of Native cultural identity. As a result of the current population explosion of caribou from the Western Arctic Caribou Herd, along with a shift in the herd’s migratory patterns, reindeer ranges that were free of caribou for generations are now being flooded by tens of thousands. Reindeer join these migrating caribou and leave their ranges. As individual herders lose reindeer to the caribou, the impact is felt at the individual, community, and regional level. This paper describes some of the factors that influence modern-day Eskimo herders’ ability to cope with this devastating situation. The herders’ descriptions of the crisis lead us to a larger and more comprehensive picture of how they understand and respond to the environmental conditions, technology, and economic conditions that they face.

Introduction Major changes in the biological environment are recurrent themes in the history of western Alaska. The decline of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd towards the end of the nineteenth century (Burch 1998:283; Skoog 1968:243–245) and the decline of marine mammals such as whales and walrus (Bockstoce1986:136; Foote 1964:18–19) left the Seward Peninsula Natives with a drastically depleted resource base. The absence of any large grazing herbivores was a major factor that led to the importation of reindeer into Alaska from Russia in 1891 and 1892, in an attempt to reestablish a stable food supply for the Alaska Natives (Stern et al. 1980).

By 1896, 1,200 reindeer were grazing on the Seward Peninsula distributed in four herds: Wales, Teller, Brevig Mission, and Golovin Bay. The reindeer population swiftly increased and colonized western Alaska, from Bethel on the YukonKuskokwim Delta to Point Barrow. By 1925 the reindeer population of western Alaska had risen to nearly 250,000 animals, and by the early 1930s exceeded 600,000 (Hanson 1952; Stern et al. 1980:103). The numbers and distribution of reindeer have varied dramatically since the 1920s, and since the turn of the nineteenth century they have been the dominant grazer and a major influence on the Seward Peninsula. Now, a century after the introduction of reindeer, tens of thousands of caribou have moved back

William Schneider, Oral History Program, Elmer Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775–6808 Knut Kielland, Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Box 757000, Fairbanks, Alaska, 99775–7000 Greg Finstad, Reindeer Research Program, School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences, Box 757140 , University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775–7140

ARCTIC ANTHROPOLOGY, Vol. 42, No. 2, pp. 36–49, 2005 ISSN 0066-6939 © 2005 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

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Schneider et al.: Adaptations of Reindeer Herders to Caribou

onto their old winter ranges on the Seward Peninsula, ranges that in the intermittent time period sustained a relatively stable economy for the local people through the herding of reindeer. Since at least 1989, the caribou have advanced steadily westward onto the Peninsula (see Dau 2000; Finstad, Kielland, and Schneider, in press).1 The present occurrence of tens of thousands of caribou during the winter (but not summer) on Seward Peninsula has drastically altered the prospects for reindeer herders in the region. Reindeer herders in western Alaska typically pursue a mixed subsistence—cash economy, with reindeer husbandry being an important, but not exclusive economic pursuit. Since the 1980s herders have experienced huge transformations in market economics, transportation, and technological innovations applied to animal husbandry and herd management. At the heart of current-day challenges lies the fact that reindeer herders are losing their reindeer to caribou that migrate onto the Peninsula each year, mixing with the domestic animals and taking the reindeer with them when they continue their yearly migration. While outmigration of reindeer is a big problem for the herders, the caribou cause other problems as well. Caribou and reindeer eat the same plants, thus there is increased competition for forage. Also, when caribou and reindeer mix, reindeer become harder to control (Dau 2000:59). The caribou are a welcomed additional source of meat for many community members, but for most of the reindeer herders, the influx of caribou has been devastating—many reindeer herders on the Seward Peninsula have lost their reindeer to caribou (Table 1). Understanding the problem from the herders’ perspectives extends the discussion beyond caribou to the many other considerations

that influence herders’ abilities to respond to the caribou problem. To understand the herders’ story one must understand how herding has evolved, the importance of reliable access to the herds from home villages at critical times of the year, the impact of fluctuations in weather and difficult terrain on herders’ mobility, the personal economics of each herder, international markets for antlers, and access to new forms of technology. In interviews, the herders described the evolution of their herding and how the above factors can create compounding impacts on their herd. Their explanations are the focus of the paper. Our thesis is that the problems faced by the herders extend beyond the caribou to the array of factors that influence herder access and their ability to respond. Interviews with herders are one way for us to learn how they understand these conditions. Many of the herders we interviewed have a family history of herding and have known periods of loss and gain. They therefore recognize that they, like other herders, may lose their reindeer and have to find other work. But they also know that in the future, new herding opportunities may present themselves, as they have in the past. For those who have lost their herds, the question is whether they or their children will have the knowledge, range permits, and access to reindeer so they can take advantage of the opportunity when it again presents itself. This is why the link between the present generation of herders and their offspring is important. While future generations of herders will undoubtedly encounter different conditions, they will most certainly also have to deal with many of the factors described by this generation. Hopefully the considerations raised by herders today and reported in this paper will prove useful to them. This region of Alaska has the longest history of reindeer herding in the region, and is today, one

Table 1. Reindeer herd loss from chart compiled by Gregory Finstad (in press). This figure reflects a record of reindeer loss as of 2004 and does not include the few herders who have not lost reindeer.

Herd Davis Gray Hadley Henry Karmun Menadelook Noyakuk Sagoonik Sheldon Weyiouanna TOTAL

Peak Herd Size 6384 2418 2310 1397 2155 1473 1046 1815 1582 1081 21,661

Year of Peak Herd Size 1997 1993 1987 1987 1995 1995 1996 1992 1991 1991

Estimated Herd Size 2004 3500 350 0 0 0 0 150 0 0 100 4,100

Losses—Peak to Current 2884 2068 2310 1397 2155 1473 896 1815 1582 981 17,561

Percent loss 45 85 100 100 100 100 85 100 100 90 81

38 of the last region to still have reindeer herds. The economy of the villages combines hunting, fishing, and trapping with seasonal wage labor such as construction, commercial fishing, and guiding. Until recently, herding was a major economic and subsistence resource. The reindeer industry is one of the few economic activities that brought cash to the region and the multiplier effect of that money is represented in salaries to seasonal help, sales of meat to local stores, antler sales on an international market, and local purchases by herders of supplies and equipment (Carlson 2005:2, 92). As the caribou continue to take reindeer away, the economic value of herding in the regional economy diminishes accordingly. We will describe the herders’ current situation using perspectives provided in a series of 16 interviews that included 13 herders, a past and a present director of the Kawerak Reindeer Herders Association, and a helicopter pilot who works with the herders. The herders interviewed are from Savoonga, Buckland, Deering, Wales, Shishmaref, Brevig Mission, Teller, Nome, Koyuk, White Mountain, Shaktoolik, and Stebbins. Savoonga is a Siberian Yup’ik village on St. Lawrence Island. The other villages are located along the northwest coast of Alaska, from the Yup’ik community of Stebbins north and west to the Inupiaq communities of the Seward Peninsula and extending around the Peninsula to communities as far north as Deering and Buckland. In all but one case, there was one interview per person. Each interview was open-ended with the goal of tracing the herder’s family history of herding; to ask about reindeer declines in the past, the role of communities in herding activities such as corrallings, as well as the present problems with caribou; and to find out when the herder first recognized the current problem. As the interviews progressed, the herders brought up topics and connections between topics that we then pursued further with them and with the next people we interviewed. Weather emerged as the most important topic and herders described the way that different conditions can affect a herder’s access to his herd. Other topics that came up in the interviews and were pursued in subsequent sessions include identification of “safe areas” from encroaching caribou, the evolution of technology, and the costs of purchasing, running, and repairing equipment, as well as the expenses of hiring aircraft. When some of the herders described the relationships between technology, terrain, grazing areas, economics, and weather conditions, we took their lead and focused more closely on these topics in subsequent interviews, building up a comparative base of information that became central to our discussion in this paper of ways in which these factors can influence each other.

Arctic Anthropology 42:2

Clarifications, Limitations, and Description of Approach Throughout the paper we use extensive quotes from the interviews because our purpose is to present the herders’ perspectives on the factors that influence them today and because we want to show our readers how we drew upon the narratives in our analysis. The quotes are selective and illustrative, and are based on our understanding of what the herders shared in their interviews. The process of hearing about another person’s experiences and interpreting that experience when presenting it to others is fraught with possibilities for distortion and misunderstanding. Problems can arise in at least two ways: first there is the issue of how well we understand the narrator’s experiences, and second is the question of how well we communicate the salient points to an audience that may not share the same experiential base as the narrator. In this regard, Elizabeth Tonkin cautions researchers to consider the difference between “history-as-lived” and “history-asrecorded” (1994:12). We extend this point further to consider “history as retold” and “history as understood by new audiences.” In offering this paper, we are, therefore, painfully aware that our single two-hour interview with each herder provides some perspectives on their experiences, but only a thin slice of the experiences they have with the subject. However, the previous experience of two of the principal investigators, Greg Finstad and Knut Kielland, probably compensates for this. Both have traveled extensively with the herders and Finstad has directed the Reindeer Research Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks for the last ten years, and has been working with herders in northwest Alaska for twenty years. Kielland is an ecologist with many years of research experience in the interior, northwest, and arctic regions of Alaska. In addition, Schneider has been director of the Oral History Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks since 1981. We have worked closely with the Kawerak Reindeer Herders Association and the director, Rose Atuk Fosdick, helped design the research approach, participated in some of the interviews, and reviewed, along with the herders, the products developed from this four year project.2 Fosdick comes from a herding family, has directed the Kawerak Reindeer Herders Association since 1990 and is now Vice President for Natural Resources at Kawerak. We chose to use interviews because we recognized that the herders are the ones who make the decisions about their herds; therefore, their explanations are central to the discussion of the

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challenges they face. This is very different from some other parts of the Arctic, like Sweden, where herding is strictly regulated by the government (Beach 2004:110–123), or Russia, where the legacy of governmental policies has left herders scrambling to make a living (Gray 2004:136–153; Krupnik 2000:51). Seward Peninsula herders operate under state and federal laws that regulate such things as range capacity and conditions under which slaughter for sale is carried out, but these have not been overly restrictive and the Reindeer Herders Association has good working relationships with these entities, even in cases where the agency has competing obligations, as in the case of Fish and Game. Herders enjoy a great deal of autonomy and receive support, particularly from the Reindeer Herders Association and the Reindeer Research Project when they request it. Therefore, we focus primarily on the herders and their descriptions of the challenges, rather than on the agencies. The interviews identified a complex web of factors that all herders have to contend with at one point or another, and recorded their evaluation of the current situation. The interview process led us to see the caribou problem within the larger context of historic developments and adaptations over time to reindeer herding in this region. Studies of Native resource management often make the mistake of trying to evaluate Native knowledge within a western scientific paradigm (Cruikshank 1998:45–70; Nadasdy 1999:1–18) . As Cruikshank and Nadasdy point out, such approaches run the risk of removing the local information from its cultural and historic context and thereby distorting it. The results often fail to inform science and, out of context, make little sense to Native community members. A more fruitful approach to local knowledge is to begin with the experiences of the individuals who are closest to the issue and document their background with the subject and their descriptions of the problem. This approach allows one to open the discussion to multiple perspectives (Kline 1996), and expands one’s knowledge of the issue as it plays out in the lives of all the people interviewed. The approach affirms the value of documenting what people share in common, but also makes room for the differences, the things that differentiate the experiences of each narrator. The goal of using this approach is to build up a cumulative record of both individual and shared perspectives so we can begin to understand and explain how people see and describe the complexity of the situations they face.

Historical Background Reindeer were introduced to the Seward Peninsula in 1892 by Sheldon Jackson, a Presbyterian church-

man and Commissioner of Education for Alaska. He was assisted by Captain Healy of the Revenue Cutter Bear who provided the transport of reindeer from Siberia. Jackson believed that reindeer would be a good thing for the Inupiaq and Yup’ik people because it would provide a source of meat and livelihood. Caribou had been present on the Peninsula in the early nineteenth century, but in the later years they had diminished in numbers, making it harder and harder for hunters to get meat (Burch 1972:357, 1998:283; Skoog 1968:243). Today’s elders knew from accounts of their elders that caribou had once been present on the Peninsula. Their elders predicted that someday the caribou would come back and this prediction was often voiced by the herders in their interviews. The following three quotes demonstrate how herders were warned, how some had trouble taking the warnings seriously, and how the elders’ warnings were confirmed when the caribou came back. This was a lesson in both how their success as herders could quickly change and the value of remembering the elders’ warnings. When we first got started in the reindeer business, the old people used to say well caribou used to migrate through the whole Peninsula early days. They keep saying, you watch it, they’re going to come back. I said, come back to where . . . ? Same area where they first migrated . . . The reason they mentioned they come back, that’s the way the old Eskimos used to live; every year they migrate toward the Seward Peninsula and that’s where they’d see the old bones out there and that’s where they had camps. That’s the natural thing for them to do so that’s what happened. (Herb Karmun, H2000-102-01) Well, I think some people predicted that many years ago. The old Eskimos said they’d be back here and even before my time; I never seen no caribou here, but the generation before that, they said there used to be caribou here, maybe two generations before said, there used to be caribou, they could hunt from. But I didn’t believe that because I never seen a caribou. (Larry Davis, H2000-102-03) Well, we hear, on and off that they are wondering why caribou are dying and I could just put from my own thinking is that the food source is beginning to deplete in the caribou country so our ancestors always told us that one day the caribou going to come back again. I think that’s becoming true. (Dan Karmun, H2000-102-05)

Soon after the introduction of reindeer, an apprenticeship program was established to teach Natives how to herd (Olson 1969:29). Saami herders from Norway were brought to the Teller Reindeer Station to teach the herders techniques for handling and caring for the animals. As the apprentices continued to work with mission and

40 government herds, they earned reindeer and this became the basis of their own herds. Individual herd ownership continued until the mid 1920s (Stern et al 1980:49). Some of the herders interviewed trace their herding back to this period. Clifford Weyiouanna recalled how his grandparents on his mother’s side were involved in the early years of the Wales Big Herd. His grandfather was an apprentice and earned two bulls; his grandmother was a cook and earned seven females, and that was the start of the Malakiak herd (Weyiouanna H2000-102-22). Donny Olson’s great grandfather, Ole Olson, a Saami, was contracted by Sheldon Jackson to teach reindeer herding and came to Alaska in 1898. Reindeer herding remained in the family until World War II. Olson now runs a helicopter business and assists herders with roundups (Olson H2000102-30). Out of 16 interviews, nine narrators trace their herding heritage back to grandparents, six narrators trace it to parents and only one narrator is a first generation herder. We were particularly interested in the family histories because they demonstrate the cumulative family experiences with herding over time under different conditions, and as we will argue later in this paper, generational connections may be an important factor in determining who enters herding after periods when herds are severely depleted. Knowledge of the country, of the animals, and of the weather will undoubtedly be critical to any future success and these are the types of things that the current generation of herders can contribute. This point has also been raised in reference to Siberian herding in the post Soviet Period (Krupnik 2000:54). The early apprentice herders were new to the activity of herding but herding and reindeer products were not foreign to them. They knew about herding from contacts with relatives and visits with reindeer herders from Siberia. They knew the value of the hides and traded for them with traders from across the Bering Straits (Simon 1998:75–92). As the apprentices established their herds, they were able to leave the program and focus on their own reindeer. In those early years, herders were out with their herds all the time, walking. At the same time, pressure was mounting for family members to live in settled communities. One of the ironies of this period of history is that Inupiat were being pulled in opposite directions: the missionaries wanted people to live in settled communities to take advantage of village schools, churches, and medical services. However, in order to herd, hunt, and/or trap, people needed to be out on the land (Burch 1975:31). As time went by, the tension grew between the conflicting demands. Dan Karmun described a spring round-up in the early days when school kids were out of school for months at a time. “Believe it or not, they took the kids out with them,


the school kids, just pulled them out of school and went out to the camp . . . like I said, the kids were pulled out of school because it was part of the culture to train the kids on what it is all about” (Karnum H2000-102-05). Johnson Stalker, commenting on a little later period in time, in the 1940s, said: “I’ve been in second grade for how many years . . . become regular reindeer herder. I think that’s my mind, my minds that way, that I could read animals, not the paper like this” (Stalker H2000-102-08). And even more recently, commenting about a request he made to his father in 1955, Nathan Hadley would lament: “. . . I ask my dad to go high school, Mt. Edgecumbe, and my dad said no, I need your help, so I just stay home an help my dad” (Hadley H2000-102-10). Now, of course, it is inconceivable that children would be out of school for any extended period of time, and herders’ lives are inextricably linked to the villages. Management of reindeer herding changed in the 1920s with the introduction of joint ownership of reindeer (joint stock-ownership system) (Stern 1980:49). Individual herds were consolidated and herders were given shares of reindeer to own. Hired herders watched the herds in shifts. This arrangement allowed herders and herd owners to spend more time in the village and required individuals to spend less time out in the reindeer camp. Under this program, one could own shares of reindeer and not actually be herding. There was a chief herder who directed the men. Some of the herders we interviewed got their start as herders during this period and some had parents who were chief herders. Larry Davis’ father was a chief herder and Davis recalled the big corrallings up at Theresa Creek, near the village of Deering. When he was a young boy, he traveled with his father. Later, when he was a teenager, he worked for a couple of months as a hired herder, and recalled to us the hard work and 24-hour shifts in springtime. “There was about 4, 5, 6 of us, I guess. We would all take turns, going into shifts, you know, go on twelvehour shifts or twenty-four hour shifts in spring time.” (Davis H2000-102-03) In the 1930s and 1940s many of the herds were severely depleted (Table 2). A multitude of causes have been identified to explain the reduction in herd size, including overgrazing, wolf predation, the influx of caribou, the changing focus of war time Alaska, and the Great Depression (Lantis 1950:36; Skoog 1968:252; Stern 1980:73–76). After the introduction of reindeer, some reindeer were acquired by non-Natives (Olson 1969:44–45). The largest of the non-Native owners was the Lomen family. In 1937, the United States Congress passed the Reindeer Act. The purpose of the Act was to refocus the reindeer industry away from non-Native herd owners, to the Native

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Table 2. Historic reindeer herd population levels, compiled by Knut Kielland from table 15 in Richard Stern et al. (1980:102–103).

Data source: Stern et al.1980

600000

Estimated reindeer population

500000

400000

300000

200000

100000

0

1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

herders. By the late 1930s the Lomen interests dominated the industry and the original intent of the introduction of these domesticated animals had been compromised. The Reindeer Act sought to correct this by limiting herd ownership to Natives. In some cases, such as Donny Olson’s grandparents, it simply meant a change in ownership from his grandfathers who were non-Native to his grandmothers who were Native. In the case of the Lomens, who owned huge herds, the impact must have been much more severe. Their herds were sold to the government at what they considered a great personal loss (Beach 1986:71) Alfred Lomen later concluded: “Our policy here is to take our defeat gracefully, forget the reindeer deal, make no enemies, and carry on our commercial interests as best we can” (Lomen 1954, 296–297). The Lomens had worked hard , but with little success, to establish markets for the meat outside of Alaska. The cattle ranchers were a strong opponent of the Alaska reindeer industry because they saw potential competition. Ranchers supported the 1937 Act, figuring that having the Lomens out of

business would eliminate potential competition in the continental market (Beach 1986:71). With the poor state of the reindeer herds in the late 1930s, the Lomens were probably quite fortunate to get the settlement they did from the government (Greenburg 1984:11). Of the 16 interviews we conducted, nine narrators described a break in their family’s involvement in herding in the 1930s and 1940s. Of these nine herding families, five re-established herding in the 1960’s, two in the 1970s. The remaining two have been connected to herding through herd management and aircraft support to herders. This indicates to us that: 1) herders wanted to get back to herding; 2) that conditions had to be right for them before they could make the investment of time and resources; 3) that herders recognize the uncertainty of the industry and that there will be periods when they may not have reindeer; and 4) in the 1960s there was a generation of herders who grew up knowing about herding and were ready to get started again. This record points to the importance of the “generational and educational link” between

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parents and grandparents who know herding and children who grow up in a herding environment. Virtually all the herders whose families experienced a break in herding later re-established a connection when the conditions were right. We underscore these points now because these same factors may influence any future plans of those herders who have lost reindeer during the recent influx of caribou. We turn now to a discussion of the conditions that favored a return to herding in the 1960s. One of the reasons that herders could return to herding in the 1960s and 1970s was because the Bureau of Indian Affairs set up a program to loan reindeer to herders who wanted to practice herding. This program marked a return to individual ownership of, and care for, reindeer. Under The Model Herd Program, herders were lent reindeer in order to re-establish their herds. As their herds increased they were able to re-pay the loans (Fosdick, personal communication 2005; Simon 1998:306; Stern 1980:184, 192). Johnson Stalker worked for that program and taught herders how to handle reindeer. He shared his observations about teaching herding: Sometimes when you got new herder he’ll look at the reindeer; he don’t know how far he’s pushing them and you’ll have to straighten them back and I have to talk to them and then they’ll start to get the idea. You can’t just let your new reindeer herders do it, you know. Sometimes they got to know and then they’ll be glad to understand it. (Stalker H2000-102-08)

We believe that the snow machine influenced the return to herding as well. In the 1960s snow machines were introduced into the region and the machines had some definite advantages over dog teams, although these advantages came at the cost of gasoline, oil, and parts. Nathan Hadley got his first snowmobile in 1965. When I first get snowmachine I didn’t know much about snowmachines and I didn’t get extra parts and I broke down way out there by my reindeer. Me and my brother-in-law had to walk home, springtime. The next day we go get our snowmachine with our dogs, 11 dogs maybe . . . But when we learn our snowmachine, we get life a little easier. (Hadley H2000-102-10)

Snowmobiles were faster than dogs and good for driving reindeer and hunting down wolves. The switch to snow machines also meant that herders could stay in their villages longer and travel out on one-day trips to their herds. When they used dog teams, the herders would be with the herds for extended periods of time because it took time to get to the herds. They had to operate out of camps in good grazing areas. The “snowmachine revolution” (Pelto 1973) as it has been

described for the Saami of Scandinavia, changed how herders could access, drive, and protect their herds. The overwhelming acceptance of the machines in Alaska indicates how much the herders came to value them.3 Herders now had to consider the expenses incurred by wear and tear on the machines and they had to have cash for gasoline and parts, and these had to be imported from outside the region. What had been a local economy based primarily on local labor and exchange, and on the sale of reindeer products within the region had become dependent on equipment and fuel from outside the region. The trend to “delocalization” (Pelto 1973) introduced new implications for how herders made choices about their time and finances. Cash took on greater significance and the herders’ time was split between life in the village and travel to the reindeer herds. Under good conditions, the machines made this commute time and cost effective. In addition to actual costs of maintaining snowmobiles, herders also had to consider how the machines would work in different terrain and snow cover. Pelto and Müller-Wille compared the introduction and effectiveness of snowmobiles in two regions of Finland where Saami herders had recently acquired machines. One region was open tundra and one mountainous with rugged terrain, woods, and a “complicated drainage system.” They found that the snowmobile was better suited for the broad flat tundra (Pelto and Müller-Wille 1972–73). In the case of the Saami, the transition was from reindeer and skis to snowmobiles, whereas for the Seward Peninsula herders, the transition we are describing was from dog teams and reindeer to machines. Nevertheless, the Pelto and Müller-Wille study is instructive because it points out the impact of terrain on mechanization, a point that takes on even greater significance in the present period because caribou have become a problem and the herders are more dependent on their machines to get to the herds. But before caribou became a problem there was another significant development. In the mid 1970s a vigorous market developed for reindeer antler (Stern 1980:139)4 and the sale of antler became even more profitable than meat sales (Carlson 2005:36–37). The antler is sold to buyers in the Orient and is ground up and used for medicinal purposes. By the 1990s, the reindeer industry was thriving; individual herders made good profits, and community members actively participated in the round-ups, earning shares of meat and cash. The herders’ yearly timetable had changed to accommodate cutting antler when the velvet is ripe in the spring (June and early July) and when antler growth is sufficient, yet the inside has a spongy texture (Stern 1980:139). Merlin Henry studied antler growth in his herd and told us:

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Schneider et al.: Adaptations of Reindeer Herders to Caribou When I took over the reindeer business, I started studying reindeer horns (antler), so I could make more money in marketing the reindeer horns to the Koreans. Like ‘A grade’, that’s where you make the most money on horns, so I have to practice . . . Depending on how old the bull is, and how long the horns get, you don’t want them to get too long otherwise they get hard . . . They’re looking for soft, when you cut the horns with a knife, it’s combing [as in “honeycomb”] all the way through like the bone is combing; it’s not hard; it’s soft; that’s an ‘A grade’ horn. (Henry H2000-102-14)

Antler sales are subject to fluctuations in an international market but the sales bring money to the region that is then re-distributed. Before the movement of caribou onto the Peninsula, money earned from antler sales was, in some years, far greater than money earned from meat sales (Carlson 2005:36). The harvest of reindeer antler involves community support and therefore has some social as well as economic benefits for other villagers. Velvet is a renewable resource; reindeer are not killed in the process, and they regenerate antler in subsequent years. When reindeer are slaughtered the meat is sold mainly within the region, to village stores and processors in Nome. Limited quantities of reindeer meat are processed by grocers in Nome and made available outside the region. Federal regulations restrict wider sales unless butchering and processing takes place in an approved slaughter facility (Carlson 2005:37). Most herders do not have access to such facilities and butcher in the field. During this period, when the price for antler was high and caribou were not yet severely impacting the reindeer herds, motorized transport and even fixed-wing and helicopter air support were economically feasible and readily used in the roundups. Large reindeer herds, strong antler sales, and minimal interference from caribou allowed herders, until recently, to maintain a standard of living with sufficient economic flexibility to easily meet their needs. This worked well until the incursion of the caribou and a drop in the market for antler.

The Caribou Crisis In the 1980s, caribou from the Western Arctic Caribou herd began to repopulate the eastern edge of the Seward Peninsula (Dau 2000:58). We use the term, “crisis” with qualifiers. The loss of reindeer has severely affected the economic, social, and personal well-being of herders. They have lost thousands of dollars in potential revenue from reindeer, are no longer able to support the large corrallings that once provided a focus for community social interaction and payment to community members for their assistance. In addition herders have also been forced to abandon what they want

to do—herd reindeer. As noted, there is also an economic loss to the region from money that would previously have come into the region from sale of reindeer products. That said, the impact is primarily felt by the herders; there is no shortage of meat for subsistence, and no one has expressed difficulty in regards to hunting the caribou that make their way further west on the Peninsula each year. The herders recalled a few caribou coming onto the Peninsula earlier on, then increasing in numbers, and finally coming in waves. Several herders talked about the “caribou scouts,” lone bulls that appeared first and were followed in subsequent years by more caribou and then the waves of animals that make separation from reindeer impossible. Nathan Hadley from Buckland recalls that he saw his first caribou in the country in 1954, then every fall one or two, and then in 1969-70 little bunches coming in from the Western Arctic Caribou Herd. He went on to note that since the 1970s and into the 80s, caribou really have started coming regularly. Merlin Henry from Koyuk traces the evolution of a caribou problem on the eastern portion of the Seward Peninsula back to 1970 when he noticed that just a few showed up. In 1980 he moved his herd to Koyuk to avoid the thousands of caribou that were coming in, and then, starting in 1986, his herd began to drop in numbers. In the last several years he has not found it economically feasible to handle reindeer because of the low number of animals. The herders can sometimes predict the direction from which caribou will come and when they might arrive. Some herders have “safe areas” where they can protect the reindeer herds for a period of time, but these are few in number and they are only good as long as their vegetative cover can support the herd.5 So far, only the herds farthest west have been spared from the caribou. There are so many caribou that it is difficult to keep the reindeer away from them, even if you have a “safe area.” Palmer Sagoonick from Shaktoolik lost his whole herd in one day. The caribou herd, we all know just grew and grew until it over grazed the areas and start going into new areas to feed for the winter range and of course, they came to Koyuk and took over the Koyuk herd and start to come into our range. At first we were able to control the caribou migration because it was small, just in the thousands, just two to three thousand animals. We were able to drive them off, keep the herds safe, and as the years went by the migration kept getting stronger and stronger and pretty soon we had tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of caribou come through. And finally it just became so overwhelming, just took over, just went through my whole range and got mixed up with my reindeer and I lost the whole herd in one night, about 2500 head. (Sagoonick H2000-102-32)

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The overwhelming rush of caribou onto the Peninsula makes it nearly impossible for herders to keep their reindeer from being led off by the caribou. The herders claim that their situation is even further complicated by changes in the weather. Several of the herders talked about mild falls when freeze-up and adequate snow came late, and it was hard to use their snowmachines to get to their herds. Tom Gray described the predicament in the winter of 2001-2002: “. . . we didn’t get snow till January this year. The caribou showed up in September, end of September, so we’ve got four months, five months without snow and we can’t afford to go out and hire help to move animals around. What are we going to do?” (T. Gray H2000-102-17). But, Gray was still weighing the evidence and calculating the observations of the elders.

the icy, slippery slopes made snow machine access unrealistic. “You can get there with snowmachine when there’s snow in the mountains but threequarters of the time it’s very slippery and icy up there because my range is one of the toughest ranges” (Menadelook H2000-102-26). He went on to note that the area does not usually get good snow till January and it was the lack of adequate snow that prevented him from reaching his herd before the caribou came and took them off. Fall is definitely a critical time for all herders because that is when the caribou are moving onto the Peninsula, but winter and spring are also key times when herders need favorable weather to reach their herds. Clifford Weyiouanna described how he lost a part of his herd to caribou when a winter storm prevented him from going out to his reindeer.

Well, you know, I think the weather at least in my life here in White Mountain, the weather’s changed from what I’ve seen in the past we’ve definitely have gotten warm winters the last few winters. But I can remember winters, oh 5, 6, 10 years ago when it rained all January and February. So, I can’t say that the problem is just from the warm weather and warm conditions. (T. Gray H2000-102-17)

The last good count I had was 700. Then it got stormy almost for a week to where we couldn’t get out to the herd and when we did go out, some caribou came in, all we saw was tracks, one line going east and that was the end of my herd. Then I lucked out because I had some on the western side that went west during the storm and they got mixed in with the herd in Wales and that’s the reason why I have today 155. (Weyiouanna H2000102-22)

But, I do know that some of the old timers have said that we don’t have any snow anymore and in the old days, they used to have a lot of snow so that definitely plays a factor in the movement of animals, caribou. If there’s no snow, they are going to be able to move a lot faster. (T. Gray H2000-102-17)

The herders have always known unpredictable freeze-ups, variable snow conditions, winter rain, and icing, and these conditions have been devastating in the past, but the present adaptation of herders (village centered, motorized access), and the overwhelming rush of caribou makes the timing of freeze-up and adequate snow cover even more critical. Late freeze-up and inadequate snow cover in the fall can mean that a herder is unable to get to his herd before the caribou arrive on their yearly migration. The primary issue is access to the herd, but it is also important to be with the herds during critical periods, such as fawning or when predators are present. Sometimes there have just been too many caribou and it has been impossible for herders to keep their herds separated no matter how diligent they are. Each herder faces different types of access issues. Terrain and local weather conditions are variable and unique to each herder. These factors influence how and when herders can get to their herds. Some must cross rivers, inlets, and bays and others must travel up into the mountains. Roger Menadelook lost his herd to caribou when the migrating caribou pushed his herd high up into the mountains. The lack of adequate snow cover and

Palmer Sagoonick made note of spring fawning as another key time. Back when my herd was really growing, I could be out with the herd when they’re fawning by snowmachine and the later years, just before I lost the herd, I couldn’t be out there because the spring was so early there was water everywhere. You couldn’t really be out there in snow machine unless you walked and I couldn’t see myself walking out there herding and I couldn’t afford a helicopter. (Sagoonick H2000-102-32)

At a time when climate change is receiving a great deal of attention, it is tempting to see the herders’ comments as a further example of such changes. Certainly there have been some late freeze-ups and low snow years in recent years, but when one looks at the long term records there have also been considerable variations in the past. Therefore we think it is important to look both at the long term variations and trends and to view how patterns in recent years may impact particular herders. The problem with records at one place is that they do not reflect variations across the study area or the particular conditions each herder must face.6 We can say with certainty that weather has more impact on the livelihoods of herders today than in the past because of the incursion of caribou. When caribou are present or approaching a herd, the herder needs to be able to get to his animals.

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Variations in weather in a given season can have a major impact on the herders’ ability to get to their animals and becomes even more critical when caribou problems arise. However, at this point, the variations we see recorded in temperature and snow cover from year to year do not warrant generalizations about long-term unidirectional regionwide trends. The important thing in this investigation is to point to the herder’s need at a particular time to get to his herd and the conditions he must face when trying to do so. The interviews show how weather, in combination with other factors, can make it hard for herders to protect their animals from the caribou. Each herder lives and works in a slightly different environmental and socioeconomic setting and must contend with a set of unique conditions that are subject to change from one point in time to another. Differences are seen in the typography and vegetation on the ranges, the size of the herds, and the economic and personal decisions that each herder chooses to make about when and how to protect their herd. These factors operate in combination, and when one changes, it impacts the others.

Multiple Factors the Herders Must Face The survival of any particular herd depends upon a particular combination of factors (Table 3). For instance, adverse weather conditions can make it hard for a herder to get to his herd. If there are caribou in the area he may lose some or all of his reindeer to the caribou. If he loses some, then his economic options become narrower. A herder with a small herd may not be able to afford equipment and fuel because he cannot project a high economic return from the herd. Herders with large herds have more economic flexibility than herders with smaller herds because they can afford to hire aircraft, and buy fuel and snow machine parts. But, even a generalization like this is subject to individual variation. Individual herders weigh the factors differently (Carlson 2005:48). Clifford Weyiouanna Table 3. Some factors that herders consider in responding to the current caribou crisis. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Weather Herd Size Influx of Caribou Season of the Year Terrain and Access Distance from Village to Range Economic Return on Reindeer Products Family Experience and Oral Tradition Available Technology

(H2000-102-22) has watched his herd diminish with the influx of caribou but he responds to the economic equation by stating: I’m down to 155, but I can tell you one thing, I could tell anyone this, it costs just as much to run 155 as it costs to run 1500 head, the costs remain the same. He went on to say: But as far as the helicopter use to round up the deer in summertime, the price is going up to $300 an hour dry. What I mean by dry is that we have to supply fuel and charter rates have gone up, so in essence the only reason that I like to do it is because I’m able to mark the fawns and tag them, and so hopefully I’ll see the increase again in the future. (Weyiouanna H2000-102-22)

The costs of hiring a helicopter for a summer roundup may be the same no matter how large your herd; but each herder has to decide if their return from the roundup will pay for the helicopter. Merlin Henry made this point about snowmobile parts. Then it gets real hard for like me as a reindeer herder; you can’t make any more money off reindeer like selling reindeer meat and dehorning [cutting antlers] reindeer. And I couldn’t make that kind of money and I couldn’t keep up with my snowmachine. I couldn’t get parts no more . . . With 800 to 1,000 reindeer you can operate everything—what you make off reindeer, all year round. (Henry H2000-102-14)

Discussion From an historical perspective, the interviews illustrate in the herders’ own words how they understand the conditions leading up to the present crisis with caribou. Repeatedly they stated that the elders had predicted that the caribou would be back. They documented the movements of caribou onto their ranges; many recalled a period in the past when they were without reindeer and how they returned to herding when it became feasible. They talked about the growing tension between village-centered life with schools and their need to be out with the herds. They described the advent of snowmobiles and other technologies that assist them but come at a cost. That cost was easily shouldered when their herds were large, the market in antler was strong, and there were few caribou. Now, with diminished herds, and dependence on expensive equipment, the price of operation is often not feasible or is severely compromised.7 We know that all herders, to varying degrees, face all the factors we have discussed. We know that they share a common understanding of the factors, but that each herder chooses to deal with the conditions differently, depending on their situation and how they perceive their options. Some of the factors that may influence how individual herders

46 deal with the caribou incursion revolve around weather, access to their herd, availability of “safe areas” on their range (area where there is a possibility of using the topography to keep their reindeer away from caribou such as on a peninsula where the entrance can be blocked), the number of reindeer an individual herder has, the market for meat and antlers, and the expense of the equipment needed to herd. Factors such as terrain and availability of “safe areas” can be determined and described for each herder. Of course, “safe areas” can soon become depleted of feed and thus unusable. Despite what we know from the interviews, many factors keep changing every year: presence and movement of caribou, size of reindeer herd, market for meat and antlers, and, of course, weather. Our goal has been to lay out the factors as described by the herders based on their experiences and to show how these factors can operate in concert to limit or enhance herding opportunities. The value of the interviews lies in the fact that they provide a generalized picture of the factors and the range of considerations that herders think are important. We have examples to illustrate their responses in the past, but we cannot predict how the factors will play out in the future and how an individual herder will choose to respond. There is also a pinball affect, when one of the factors changes it impacts the others and the herder is forced to reconsider his options. For instance, freeze-up and the timing of access in the fall to the herd may not be critical unless caribou and predators are present. However, if they are present, then sufficient snow and frozen rivers and lakes are essential for herder access. If the herder cannot get out to the herd and cannot afford to hire helicopter support he may lose some or all of his animals to the caribou. A depleted herd means that the herder has less leverage to purchase snow machines and fuel and is even less able to hire aircraft support. His situation may deteriorate very quickly as his mobility is impaired. The pinball affect plays out in different ways. It is a logical string of events but not an inevitable sequence. For instance, access might be more of a problem for some herders because of the location of their ranges or because of where their reindeer have moved on the range. In addition a herder’s financial situation might not be completely dependent on reindeer, so financial impacts and herder decisions may extend beyond the factors we have been considering. The interviews have served as windows into some of the parameters of the current crisis and have demonstrated how some of the herders assess their particular situations. This is obviously not enough information for at least two reasons: 1) Our generalizations, while based on individual interviews, are meant to show the variety of factors that


are at play, as opposed to the particular conditions of each herder, 2) a view of the reindeer crisis at this point in time is a snapshot in time and will change in subsequent seasons and years. Both of these conclusions support the need for additional work with individual herders with an emphasis on the particular environmental conditions of their range, the impact of weather conditions on access, the herder’s economic situation, and the herder’s perception of management options.8 It is tempting to weigh the factors and try to determine which are more important or critical, but such a weighing does not reflect the way herders described the complexity of their situations. For instance, caribou incursions lead the list of factors important to success in reindeer herding and access is right behind, but then such an analysis falls apart because of the interplay of the factors. For instance, as we have seen, access is influenced by weather and the economic flexibility of the herder in terms of the ability to pay for parts, fuel, and hiring aircraft. If a herd has been diminished during the previous winter, the herder may not have the money to have a corralling and harvest antlers. Without the sale, no income from the reindeer is possible until the next winter when he may choose to slaughter, but that means keeping the reindeer safe during the caribou migration in the fall. Some herders have income outside of reindeer sales, and therefore have a wider range of choices when it comes to protecting their reindeer and choosing when to have a corralling. Finally, the herders know that markets for antler fluctuate and a successful harvest of antlers does not guarantee that they will command a high price. Jose Kusugak in his forward to The Earth is Faster Now (2002), observes that the Inuit of northern Canada depend on the predictability of seasonal changes and resource availability, of knowing the movements of animals and when it is time for a particular species to be taken. He goes on to state that this regularity is changing and they are trying to understand the changes and to determine if there are new patterns and whether there is any degree of new predictability. Our impression is that herders of the Seward Peninsula pay attention to predictability but do not depend on it; adaptability in the form of flexibility has proven to be more important. They constantly look at the opportunities and constraints on their lives. It is their adaptability to new technology and markets that has enabled them to build a successful industry. And now they are adapting again, this time to the caribou that are forcing them to look for new economic opportunities. Perhaps, as Ingold suggests (2004:xiii), change and variability are an ingrained part of the worldview, and people are more pre-disposed and prepared to change than we might expect. One herder who lost his herd to the

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caribou turned to commercial fishing. Big game guiding provides seasonal employment for a couple of the herders, and others have taken on wage labor to replace or supplement herding. Despite the fact that most herders have lost their herds to the caribou, they continue to regard themselves as herders. Sometimes they are herders who are doing something different until the time comes when they can return to herding. No one can predict the future of herding on the Seward Peninsula, but the heritage of herding through lean and plentiful times indicates that herding is an important resource, skill, and perceived possibility whether the herder has reindeer or not at any particular time. It is part of an identity, reinforced through the generational link with parents, and in some cases, grandparents, who were herders in good and bad times. Many of the herders who have lost reindeer to caribou want to get back into herding. If history is any indication, the caribou will someday stop migrating through the Seward Peninsula and herders or their children may someday get that chance. Herding is an important part of their heritage and they know what it can mean in their lives (see also Kofinas and Russell 2004:50). Elsewhere we have argued that the generational link of herding experience extending back to parents, and in some cases grandparents, is evident in three ways: 1)efforts to re-establish herds after the 1930s and 1940s; 2) efforts by herders to hold onto their ranges for their children; and 3) the reference by a couple of herders to their children’s experiences with herding (Schneider 2002). Without the generational link, it is hard to imagine individuals who could recognize the potential that herding offers, and who would have the experience necessary to make a success of it when the conditions permit. Palmer Sagoonick expressed these sentiments when he said: So, that’s where I stand today. I don’t think I have a single reindeer in my range but I renewed my grazing permit in my area thinking one day the caribou is going to get diseased and start dying off like they did years ago. Until that happens I won’t try to get another loan, but I’m thinking about it: that’s why I renewed my range, seeing what healthy meat can do for my people. Of all people, probably my family misses reindeer meat the most, a healthy source of protein that we had grown to love and to live by is gone; I hope it’s not gone forever. (Sagoonick H2000-102-32)

Acknowledgments. This study was funded by the National Science Foundation, Arctic Systems Sciences, ARC-9979473. We wish to thank Rose Atuk Fosdick, Kawerak Vice President for Natural Resources and Director of the Kawerak Reindeer Herders Association, for support and valuable critique. Murielle Nagy provided helpful comments as did Sidney Stephens on earlier drafts.

Rick Thoman of the National Weather Service provided graphs of temperatures and snowfall for the Nome area.

End Notes 1. We have limited the biological and ecological descriptions of caribou and reindeer. Suffice it to say that although they belong to the same species (Rangifer tarandus) and are capable of interbreeding, reindeer and caribou on the Seward Peninsula are less likely to do so because their breeding cycle is offset by about 30 days. Because of their social nature, reindeer and caribou are apt to mingle and travel together. The problem arises when reindeer join up with caribou on their sojourns across the Seward Peninsula, and thus become “unavailable” during handlings for veterinary care, marking, and butchering. Moreover, when reindeer join the caribou on their migratory exodus from the peninsula in the spring, they are largely lost to the herder forever. Lastly, even in the event that a few caribou join a herd of reindeer, the latter become much more unpredictable in their behavior and difficult to control. So, in short, reindeer and caribou like to mix but reindeer herding and caribou don’t mix. 2. During the course of this project, there have been two principle papers (Finstad et al., in press; Schneider, 2002. A radio series was produced by Kathy Turco and aired statewide on Alaska Public Radio Network, and all but two of the interviews are now up on the Web, accessible from www.uaf.edu/library/jukebox. In addition, there have been several public presentations of results from this work. Copies of this paper were given to the herders and the results were summarized at the herders’ annual meeting, March 23–24, 2005. 3. Stern (1980:97) claims that by 1969 all of the Seward Peninsula herders were using snowmobiles. 4. Stern reports velvet antler sales as early as 1969, with a price of $8.00 per pound in 1977 (Stern 1980:139). (For comparative perspective on antler sales and trading see Stammler 2004.) 5. Safe areas are places where reindeer can be kept with some degree of assurance that the herder can keep them from caribou. There are safe areas on some of the ranges and on two of the ranges there is a formal agreement, developed by the Natural Resource Conservation Service in consultation with the herders and the Kawerak Reindeer Herders Association. Signed in November 2002, the agreement was for one year. The agreement permitted these herders to use portions of each other’s range in emergency situations when threatened by caribou. It was called “Olanna/Nayokuk Caribou Contingency Agreement” (Rose Fosdick, personal communication).

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6. Our review of the monthly temperature records and snowfall records from Nome, going back to the 1930s, does not indicate a warming trend nor any significant later arrival and maintenance of a twelve inch layer of snowpack that would be needed for snowmachine travel (charts provided by Rick Thoman, lead forecaster, National Weather Service). 7. In the current crisis, management has come to mean a variety of different things to herders, depending on their situation. Not all herders are able to follow a desired course with their herd. Some herders will forego a corralling because they cannot afford to bring their animals in; others will continue to travel to and monitor the animals hoping that they will be able to handle them in the future. Others may butcher animals as needed but not be able to do much more. All herders are mindful of the critical times, such as fawning, when the animals are particularly vulnerable and they want to protect them. 8. Kumi Rattenbury, a graduate student in the IGERT program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, has begun an intensive investigation of these questions with one of the herders on the Peninsula.

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