To be a guest of reindeer herders: ethnographic tourism in Yamal

Yamal is the land of reindeer herders, the land of original residence of Komi-Zyryan, Nenets, Khanty, Selkoup, Mansi peoples and other ethnic minorities.

Preservation of cultural legacy of indigenous peoples of the North through development of ethnographic and ecological tourism is a task of the government of the land.

The state establishment "Yamal-Tour" works in this sphere successfully. There are tundra people, who cooperate with the company, in each district of the region. Tourists are welcomed at an airport or in a hotel and taken by snowmobiles from the civilization to the original tundra. In a nomadic camp of reindeer herders the guests will see, what is life in polar conditions, they will visit a choum – a dwelling of nomads (similar to a tepee), will taste national dishes of venison and fish, will learn about everyday life of indigenous ethnic minorities of the North. Amateurs to leave the modern civilization can stay a little longer, being guests, and travel with reindeer and hosts of tundra by reindeer teams and snowmobiles, will learn how to set a choum, to hunt, to fish, to cook food on a hearth and to live in complete unification with nature. Reindeer herders, welcoming tourists, with pleasure present their culture to guests from the whole Russia and even foreign countries. As a Nenets man Ivan Tysia tells, he has received tourists for two years. He has 800 reindeer; they are pastured in Priuralskiy district. He tells that in autumn Americans arrived. They liked very much. They traveled with reindeer herders and their reindeer during two weeks. Soon guests from Germany will arrive.