Communism essentially destroyed their entire nomadic existence and their reindeer herds were organized into collective farms called kolkhozes. They were given quotas for fishing in the tundra and forced to lead a sedentary life, housed in frozen apartment buildings without heating. They were forbidden to speak their language, wear their traditional clothes or celebrate their culture – so it almost completely disappeared. However, slowly some of the Russian Sami began to appreciate certain “conveniences”, such as helicopters to reach isolated places, boarding schools where they could leave their children while they worked, and bonuses for raising reindeer herds. Today, they are a fairly damaged group of people that the authorities have completely forgotten. There are about 1,500 Sami living in villages in northern Russia, but very few are able to speak the language – about 200. Now they are trying to revive it and their culture. This photo was taken in March when there is still a lot of snow and the Sami have a two-day festival called the Festival of the North. They take part in traditional winter sports, skiing and sledding, and have reindeer sled races. The people who compete are professional reindeer herders who pass down their secrets from generation to generation. If you do not train the reindeer skillfully, they go in all directions. Before killing a reindeer, there is a ritual in which they ask the animal for forgiveness When the Sami were nomadic, reindeer were essential to their life, not only for food, but also for clothing and tools, and things like belts, shoes, and even buttons. Reindeer are a sacred animal to these people and only selected ones, bred for this purpose, are killed – they do not kill those bred for racing or sled pulling. Before they kill the reindeer there is a ritual in which they ask the animal for forgiveness. This photo is part of a reportage called Kildin, a language for Russian Samis survivors that won the Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award and explores how the Sami in Russia are adapting to modernity while preserving their culture and traditions on their own terms. It shows a young man, Andrei, taking wood to the shed they use to smoke fish during the festival. He did not speak Sami, which was not taught in schools in Russia, but now he is taking lessons. The fuselage was from a wrecked plane brought to the village by his father, who had worked for Aeroflot in the 1990s after the collapse of the USSR. The war in Ukraine has been hard on the Russian Sami economically and divides opinion. Some are against the war, but because some are in favor of it, the financial aid they used to get from Sami groups in neighboring countries has stopped. I bought my first camera when I was 19 years old. The editor of the local newspaper, the Murmansk Messenger, noticed me and asked to see my photos. He liked them and sent me as a special correspondent to photograph the Sami. It has always been my dream to do this kind of reporting on the Sami. It’s a labor of love, because I’m passionate about the subject. I am interested in all indigenous and nomadic peoples and work on several projects. I also live a kind of nomadic life.
Biography of Natalya Saprunova
Photo: Courtesy of Natalya Sarpunova Born: Murmansk, Russia, 1986. Educated: Graduated as a French teacher in Russia, studied marketing and communication in France, then documentary photojournalism at the EMI-CFD school. Influences: “Pieter Ten Hoopen, Jane Evelyn Atwood, also French humanist photographers such as Robert Doisneau and Henri Cartier-Bresson.” When my flashlight jumped out of my pocket into the river in the middle of the tundra.” Top tip: “Understand the providence of circumstances. If something doesn’t work, let it go and build yourself up again.”
