Nomadic Nenets tribes of the Russian North roam the vast frozen Tundra, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest settlements, herding their deers and living in rawhide tents, just like their ancestors had done ages ago. Meanwhile, their children spend up to 9 months per year away from their families in boarding schools. Sometimes, acquiring basic education for these kids come at odds with the traditional lifestyle. Some miss the freedom of the Arctic, and the impatient ones even attempt audacious escapes and embark on a perilous journey back home through the wilderness. Others, on the contrary, are very comfortable with comforts of the city life over traditional nomadic forms of living which mainly revolves around reindeer herding. Integrating a formal education system into nomadic culture/environment isn’t easy – it’s just like finding a place for a rawhide «chum» within the city.
Authors
Children of the Tundra
