Reindeer Herding
In the spring the reindeer begin to shed their hair. The flies irritate their skin, and the hide is no good to use. Often they move out to the coast to wade in the ocean, lapping up slat. They drink water from the streams and eat fresh greens. When they finish shedding, the skin becomes strong again and the deer grow fat. They stay lean while shedding because of the bugs and flies.
The herders watch the herd closely in the spring while the deer are fawning. They have to notch the fawn’s ear to match it’s mother’s earmark. Later in June, they look them over to decide which fawns will make good sled deer. They say, “Someone should try out that deer.” So they catch the fawn with a lasso and tie it to the ground for a few days. They use a long line so it won’t tangle. In this way, the fawn gets used to the line.
Then the handler brings a collar and harness and puts them on, one at a time. The fawn fights them. It jumps and runs like a bucking horse. But it is still tied to the ground. Pretty soon, it begins to respect the line, then the collar and harness.
A sled deer wears a specially made collar and harness. It must fit snugly and not tickle the deer anywhere. It should be pliable and durable. There is a line to the sleigh, long so that the sleigh does not hit the hind legs of the deer. A line is attached to the tines on the deer’s antlers to make him turn. That is why the deer must learn to respect that first long line, for it is just one line which controls and steers a sled deer.
The deer must learn all this. It cannot be force-trained. During training, the deer is handled and talked to, so it gets used to everything. A handler must be patient to tame a wild deer. It is time-consuming work. That is what reindeer herding is all about.
Then summer comes. The herders have been watching the deer all this time. They must decide which young bulls will be castrated to make steers. These steers will be driven to Anchorage and sold for reindeer meat.
Our summers are not very long. Starting in June when we pick our greens, then July, August, September. You look around and some of the deer are peeling already. Look, holy smokes! Some of them are turning into bulls. They have to be caught and castrated before they become too wild and too many. Now they begin to fight. Sometimes the bulls get their horns so tangled that the herders have to saw them apart. They cut their horns right off.
There’s no fooling about that. Reindeer have to be watched day and night, if there’s going to be a herd. A nice big herd, enough for their families. That is the way the reindeer herders were taught.
Now if the herders see a reindeer with a swollen foot, too tender to step on, they never say, “Save that deer.” They kill it. It’s not good even for eating. If they leave it alone, soon the leg will swell up and puss will start running on the hoof. If it walks around where the other deer are feeding, then the infection spreads to the herd. The herder must keep infected deer apart from the herd. That’s what we learned from the Lapplanders.
It is important to keep the herd down, not to ruin the grazing grounds with too many deer. We take a fat deer for food for the winter. Kill it, sell the hindquarters, and keep the forequarters for our children at home. One common way to dispose of the meat is to sell it for dog food. Also for food, but then it has to be handled and labeled properly.
The herder also uses the hide and leggings to keep his family warm. None of the skins or leggings are wasted. They are not spoiled. Even the newborn fawn skins are used for kids’ parkas, because they are so light. Mothers use them to pack their babies in. Month-old fawn skins are used for men’s pants and outside parkas. Hides are tanned differently for different purposes. Hand-tanned, home-tanned skins are more durable. They last longer and are warmer than skins tanned Outside.
Why? A skin tanned Outside is soft like cloth and nice to touch. But it draws moisture. If it’s used for a parka, it draws cold air. Someone wearing it will get frozen cheeks. If it’s used for boots, it draws moisture and gets more wet inside than outside. I’ve seen this. There’s no fooling about that. Native Inupiaq learned that long before the white people came.
When I was working for the Nome Skin Sewers, one big boss came to me. He slapped his hand on the desk and said, “You’re going to make me nothing but Outside-tanned boots. These skins stink too much.”
So I said, “But they’re not going to keep you warm.”
“You make them for me Outside-tanned anyway.”
So we made them Outside-tanned. Later on, he came in, the big shot, and sat by the heating stove. I was in the other room, taking inventory, when one of the sewers called, “Emma, you have to come out here. This man won’t listen.” Here the man had taken off his mukluks and put them on top of the heating stove.
“Good Lord! You can’t do that! Look what you did.” I went and picked them up. They were shriveled on the bottom. When I touched them, they tore to pieces. I told him, “You spoiled your mukluks. I told you they wouldn’t last. Outside-tanned mukluks draw moisture and freeze your feet.” He wanted to dry them right away, and he cooked them.
He began to understand that Eskimos knew a little more than he did. Next time he ordered Alaska-tanned mukluks, and his feet were never cold again. Even in wet and snowy weather, he wasn’t cold.
By Emma Willoya
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