My first personal meeting with muskoxen (Оvibos moschatus, in Latin "musky sheep-ox") happened in Alaska in one of the Wildlife Conservation Centres there. That time I was surprised how different muskoxen look from other Arctic animals: having such a massive ugly body they have very short legs but with very strong hooves. There was quite …
Continue reading Danger Muskox and Danger of Musk ox wool prices
It was more than ten years ago during our first visit to Santa Claus village – a tourist attraction in Rovaniemi in the north of Finland. My 6-year-old daughter asked Santa Claus why his reindeer can fly in the sky. Surely, this could not be true! Last summer, when she was in the Yamal tundra, she did …
Continue reading If Santa Claus’ reindeer can fly, what about other reindeer?
Harlingen's harbour is usually half-empty on normal days. There are a few tall ships standing alone in water and many private modern yachts. Suddenly, among them you can notice an unusual vessel that is very different from other ships. This is de Witte Swaen (the White Swan) a reconstruction of a ship of the XVI …
From my field notes: “It is still early morning, 4th of August, 2021. I am waiting for a telephone call from a Nenets woman whom I had met yesterday in Aksarka. She had said that she is from Laborovaia and is going to travel there by a rented car. For her it was the only …
Continue reading Mobility in the tundra: how to use the old snowmobiles in the summer
It has been one year since the coronavirus pandemic became a part of our life and changed it in a very radical way. We follow the rules of the government, we developed some rules for ourselves – and every one of these is made to stay safe and alive. From the beginning of the pandemic until today, people all around the world are shocked by the high number of …
Last week on the Internet was published a short video about two very old Nenets Syadei with the following text: Cambridge University Museums have been running a project called ‘Museum Remix – Unheard’ during lockdown. It’s an invitation to re-interpret the stories museums tell. Each month they have released a challenge - this month’s is …
Continue reading Some thoughts about Nenets Syadeis from the Scott Polar Research Institute Museum
Since my very first visit to the Netherlands, I have been surprised at the interest of Dutch people in one of the islands in the North of Russia, which they call Nova Zembla, from the Russian name Novaya Zemlya (“New Land”). This topic of Novaya Zemlya drew attention since the time of the first Dutch …
Arctic Anthropology 