Above the Arctic Circle with the Nenets (09.2009)

Above the Arctic Circle, Nar'yan-Mar is the capital of the Nenets Autonomous District, home of the Nenets or Samoyed people. Spread out along the seas of the Arctic, 1.5 times the size of France, the district has a population of about 40,000, half of whom live in the capital. Others remain nomadic reindeer herders, criss-crossing the tundra where winter temperatures plunge to more than -50°C (-60°F). More than 2,200 kilometers from Moscow, the district is accessible only by plane. There are no roads here; travel is done by boat, helicopter or reindeer. Before the start of the school year, Nenets children are helicoptered to Nar'yan-Mar or other regional boarding schools where they spend the school year. Thousands of years old, the Nenets have, thus far, retained their language and cultural traditions. Site of an oil boom, the area faces many of the same environmental issues confronting Alaska.