Komi, the nomads from the Arctic circle | SLICE | Full documentary

whatever the weather you always have to keep an eye on the reindeer they tend to move away this is the arctic circle in russia's far north where the euro mountains divide europe and asia two comey families live alongside their 5 000 reindeer they are entirely dependent on their animals and have preserved an ancient way of life that is in constant harmony with nature alexei and wazily have made it back to their reindeer these animals are continually seeking food and won't stay long in the same place in summer they'll move on to the slopes of the urals where more welcoming pastures await them the immense desolate tundra typifies the arctic circle landscape the region our families are traveling through is as large as france and germany combined it is home to half a million people and just as many reindeer alexei wazoli and their families each live in a tomb which is a big tent while the men look after the huge herd the four women marina shura nida and ludmila take care of the family and home marina is one of my daughters-in-law how long have you been together 12 years 12 years i don't want her to go i'm very fond of her i'd really like her to stay here always but who knows perhaps one day she'll go off with her husband and i'll have to be on my own the summers are short-lived throughout the arctic circle as every september the families and their herds are getting ready for a long hard journey it will take them beyond the euro mountains to the winter camp several hundred reindeer have been selected from among the huge herd to draw the two family sleds the men wait until the last moment before catching them ah is um [Applause] when the men return from their trip with the reindeer it's like a celebration for us when they're outside with the animals they have to prepare the meals themselves and look after the reindeer but when they return there's lots of good food waiting on the table we make them a good hot meal to warm them up they need to come in from the cold and warm up their feet their feet are always wet when our husbands are young but they've already got rheumatism when they see them they're just really happy mhm [Music] [Applause] so [Music] [Applause] as long as the wolves stay away everything's okay and what do they do they killed 30 of them recently and the walls don't appear in broad daylight way [Music] him [Music] [Applause] foreign be foreign is [Music] of course i'll go and see the children as soon as i can they don't live in the town itself but in a little village with their grandmother my mother i'll go and see them as soon as i have an opportunity but if i can't i won't see them again until may next year marina's daughters should have already been back at school for the last two weeks but the town and the school are 125 miles away and can only be reached by snow cat or helicopter for two days now joseph has been going around to the nomad families on the snow cat to pick up the children who go to school [Music] foreign oh foreign blue i live in this half with my family my husband my daughters and my husband's two unmarried brothers we're seven in all this my parents live on the other side with my married brother-in-law and his family there are five of them so that means that there are five on this side and seven on the other side twelve people live in this tomb this way in the evening the men get together around the meal in order to prepare the journey um mr [Music] uh the preparations are already well advanced alexei and wazali have left their huge herd of 5000 reindeer who have begun their winter migration with some of the family members leading the way but the two men had previously selected the most robust to draw their 50 sleds with all their possessions i'd like to get some news of the children but i can't make a connection that often happens because of bad weather it also happens with the northern lights they can interfere with the radio link it's always the same old story [Music] foreign foreign [Music] tonight's storm caught alexei by surprise it brought the first snow i know it's the end of september in a few days time the families will have finished packing everything and the sleds will be loaded up the men women and animals will be completely ready for the long winter migration foreign left foreign the chum are taken down and the reindeer harnessed to the sleds that was the last night on the tundra oh [Applause] in summer we go into the mountains and in winter we settle in the tiger forest it's warmer and the reindeer can eat the moss there are always storms here in the mountains but we're sheltered in the tiger we switch between the two we can't stay in the forest in summer there's moss but no grass that's why we go elsewhere in autumn we travel 250 miles to our winter camp and in the spring we do the same distance in the opposite direction [Music] a pagan ritual is played out prior to each departure the people animals and sleds go around in a circle symbolically depicting the path of the sun [Music] it's the start of a journey that will last several weeks the enormous herd has set the pace and it's now followed by the families and their sleds [Music] while traveling the nomads will pass the tombs of their ancestors a tough journey through the euro mountains is ahead from europe to asia [Music] [Music] alexei wazily and their families rarely stay in the same place during the winter migration they travel between 6 and 10 miles each day and re-erect their tents and stoves every night yes alexa what does your wife do when you work here she's got her own work to do what sort of work i don't know work in the tomb she does the washing brings wood in there was a storm yesterday she had to clean up inside she's got her work cut out she does the cooking of course what do we eat always the same things stewed meat and fish she'll certainly manage to find something to make for us i let her decide my wife knows what she needs to do the convoy reaches a pass wazoli alexei and his younger brother go off to do reconnaissance on the route foreign because we'll be able to move more easily and by tomorrow will be um that's why we go further on foreign foreign foreign foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] man [Music] it's early december after two months of traveling and nearly 125 miles the convoy has reached a village on the other side of the earls it's a couple of miles outside the town of salakhart it's here that part of the herd is slaughtered every year [Applause] the huge herd of reindeer is former state property inherited from the soviet era the two comey families now own part of it while the remainder still belongs to the government come on uh foreign foreign some of the animals belong to the state yeah that's how we recognize them [Music] then [Applause] yes [Music] quantities [Music] everyone looks at us as if we're from another planet we don't feel very comfortable [Music] we note down the different categories of animals on this table female reindeer the males the young ones and those that will be used for transport yes because we haven't got a freezer here we have to wait until it's cold enough outside normally it's better to kill the animals in october because they're fatter but because we haven't got any way of freezing them we have to wait until it's cold enough outside then we can go back to our winter camp and rest a little is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Applause] two more months have passed and it's now march the people and animals have traveled well over a hundred miles and reached their winter lodgings into tiger forests here they'll find as much wood as they need to make fire and build new sleds as for the reindeer at last they've found something they can sink their teeth into they've been here for several weeks now and this is where their long journey ends i like it like this but maybe my wife doesn't like it anymore i think she needs a younger man i'm already too old for her yeah perhaps my wife would kiss me more if i shaved more often but i haven't got time to shave every day or for canoodling so in the evening i have my tea and go to bed [Applause] sheesh we'll be busy with the animals [Music] um [Music] and their families make the most of the winter break to prepare for the summer migration at their leisure they devote part of their time to repairing their sleds and building new ones she must have got it from her grandmother we like being beautiful so it's the 10th of march today and we're writing this letter because we miss you very much but happily it will soon be the end of the school year we're being good at school and working hard and how are you say hello to everybody of course later i'd like at least one of my daughters to live here in the tomb and for her to maintain our ancestors way of life attack is a procedure we won't stay young forever one day or another will be old and after having regained their strength in their winter lodgings alexei and wazily and their families will travel through the euros again in a few weeks in april they will cross the mountains and as they do every year they'll set up their tomb in the summer pastors on the european side [Music] people need my advice here i'm useful but over there i'd have no purpose the reindeer are everything for us the reindeer our life they're priceless we don't need gold we've got the reindeer they're our gold [Music] you

Channel: SLICE

Views: 5,591,191

Keywords: documentary, documentaries, shortdoc, shortdocs, slice, slicedocs, arctic, arctic circle, polar circle, polar, winter, cold, reindeer, reindeers, breeding, nomads, nomad, komi, family, adventure, expedition, nature, freeze, snow, environment

Id: ECsubZDT46M

Length: 48min 42sec (2922 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 26 2021