Dynamics of Nomadic Routes in Yamal: Pastures, Borders, Identities

The article considers the specifics of the modern nomadic movement of Yamal reindeer herders. The micro-regional approach is used as a method of studying the cultural and economic characteristics of indigenous communities of the North on a large scale. Nenets households of the "Mordyyakha" microregion in the north-west of the Yamal Peninsula have changed their winter pasture areas several times over the last 15-20 years, while maintaining a stable summer part of the route. Based on the field-work among Yamal reindeer herders, this paper assesses ecological and non-ecological factors that influence the dynamics of summer and winter parts of meridional nomadic routes. Our study shows that long-term (or strategic) changes in the winter part of the route are predominantly related to the quality of pastures. At the same time, the change of the summer areas, as a rule, occurs under the impact of developing industry and, thus, relates to non-ecological factors.