"This is Russia, and I'm in a frosty little town in northwest Siberia, where today it's at minus 24 degrees Celsius." "This is the homeland of the Nenets people, half of whom have settled in modern towns and villages much like this, where they have electricity and hot running water." "But the other half are still out there to the frozen north carrying out their traditional way of life herding reindeer." "And right now they're pushing their reindeer south on their winter migration towards the winter pastures." "And it's those people that I hope to go and live with." "My name's Bruce Parry." "I've been travelling to the some of world's most remote places to see how people there live, and how they're adjusting to a rapidly changing world." "I believe there's only one way to really understand another culture, and that's to experience it first-hand." "To become, for a short while, one of the tribe." "My destination is the largest reindeer herd in the Yamal Peninsula." "It's currently 200 kilometres away across the Siberian tundra." "By far the quickest way to get there is by helicopter." "The Yamal region lies north of the Arctic Circle, some 3,000 kilometres northeast of Moscow." "It's hugely valuable to the Russian government as it holds a quarter of the world's natural gas." "Gas fields and pipelines are spreading across the peninsula, yet so far, reindeer continue to migrate across the region." "The landscape is dotted with 50,000 lakes but during these winter months they are completely frozen over." "There's nothing to see out there but snow and ice, and what I hate most in the world is the cold." "I'm really looking forward to meeting the people and learning new skills." "It's gonna be the most amazing experience." "But deep down, honestly," "I'm kind of dreading it." "My spirits lift as we pass over one group - or brigade - of reindeer herders." "Reindeer have been migrating in this region for centuries." "From the air it's an inspiring sight." "After a bit of searching through the frozen mist, we find the reindeer herders I've come to live with." "During the Soviet era they were named "The Eighth Brigade"" "when the herds were collectivised by the State." "Russian is their second language, so I greet them in their native tongue." "Wow, look at this." "It's so nice of you to come and greet us." "The pilot wastes no time, leaving us on the tundra." "There's no going back now." "Complete silence." "I'm invited into one of the tepee-like homes." "So this is my first entry into the famous chum - tent." "And I'm gonna pass... the bed in first." "Wow." "It's huge." "And it's so warm, instantly." "Instantly there you are, out of the elements and in a home." "I join the Serroteta family for afternoon tea." "My main host is called Alexander, and then there's his wife, Tatiana, and his older brother, Sergei, who's the brigadier." "Ahh." "That's nice." "I think I know what this is." "Vodka." "Living out here can't be easy and everyone will be expected to help out during the migration." "It's already getting dark, and I'm told that tomorrow we'll be on the move." "My first day of migration." "Alexander's 78-year-old mother and his three-year-old nephew are the first to prepare for bed." "Tonight the chum is sleeping nine Nenets, three TV crew, an interpreter and myself." "When I'm ready to crash, I find there's hardly any space left." "We wake at five o'clock in the morning." "I've only been up half an hour." "I'm busting for the loo." "But I can't go anywhere until I've warmed these boots up." "Great as they are, left round the outside of the tent it freezes solid in the night." "Whereas these guys, of course, straight up, straight on with their nice, supple reindeer skin boots and they're off and at it." "When I do get outside I'm in another world." "I walked out of the tent and was faced with the sun just coming up." "And this sea of reindeer, and all these tents, with the smoke billowing out the chimneys." "And it was awe-inspiring." "I..." "I really... pinched myself and thought," "I've never seen anything remotely approaching this sight before in my life." "About 1500 or maybe a couple of thousand reindeer just here but this isn't the main herd." "This is just the transport, the semi-domestic ones." "The main herd is two to three times the size of that, and that's some distance over there." "Haven't seen them yet." "The reindeer have been herded into a makeshift corral so they can be harnessed for sledges." "Animals that escape are being recaptured using long ropes of reindeer skin called a tynzhan." "Cos it's my first day, I've got quite an easy task." "I've got to hold a rope and go, "Whey!" If a reindeer tries to escape," " and I've let two out already." " Hey!" "After several hours of packing, the sledges are nearly ready." "I'm looking forward to getting going." "It's going to be fantastically interesting seeing all these sledges, this entire brigade, and all the reindeer." "But also I'm quite dreading it, it's about minus 30 at the moment, to sit there for five hours on the sled, with the wind chill, it's gonna be freezing cold, and I'm not entirely sure that, er, I'm gonna be able to hack it." "Within a couple of hours the brigade forms a line stretching across the tundra for six kilometres." "One of the brigade drives each front sledge, leading the other attached reindeer and sledges behind it." "Sergei, the brigadier, aims to cover about 20 kilometres each day." "Travelling nearly every other day, the entire migration from north to south takes five months to complete." "In the five weeks I'll be here we must cover 200 kilometres." "By late afternoon we've nearly completed our distance for the day." "I'm on such a high." "It feels like I'm in a dream." "It's absolutely unbelievable." "I know this, for them, is everyday, but for me it's so romantic." "If I was with my girlfriend, I think I'd propose." "Sergei marks out the site for his chum to be built." "The others will put theirs up behind his." "They just said, now it's not chilly any more - it's really cold." "And for these guys to say it's really cold, that is an accolade, so, er... when I step outside I'm gonna feel it." "It's beneath minus 35 at the moment." "We haven't exactly got the temperature but..." "it's gonna be chilly." "I can't imagine why anyone would want to live in the cold." "Sergei has always made his money by herding reindeer but since Soviet times his brother, Alexander, got a university degree and became a teacher." "Then, 25 years ago, he gave it all up to join his brother back out on the tundra." "What year did you come back and join the herding society?" "Today, Sergei and Alexander are less concerned with their bank accounts than with the size of their herd." "While reindeer are a source of income, they are much more than that." "They provide food, clothing, shelter and transport." "Reindeer are central to Nenets culture." "The next day is a rest day, so we get to sleep in till seven." "There's a more relaxed mood in the chum." "My modern clothing failed to keep me warm yesterday so Tatiana has a malitsa for me." "Wow." "This is the ingenious bit." "This is the first time I've tried it on but I've been watching everyone else." "You have this wonderful fur enclosure around your wrist but then here, this is the ingenious bit - your hand goes in and then comes back out, and then suddenly that gets closed, and you've got a mitt." "And suddenly I'm ready for the world." "I really want to see what it looks like!" "It's fantastic." "Can I go outside?" "Oh, that's so good." "But the biggest thing is that in my other stuff it's so difficult to move and here I can..." "And they look so... cumbersome but it's not." "I'm actually..." "It's really soft and supple." "This is a community of 60 people living in nine chums." "On the days between migrations they spend most of their time looking after reindeer and making repairs." "It's hard to help here because so many of these jobs are so finicky and particular you really need to know what you're doing." "But occasionally..." "I can... find a little task, like chipping ice off a sledge, or holding a rope, or unleashing a reindeer." "Just beginning, really, to be of some use." "Let me..." "Yeah..." "For Tatiana this is no problem." "Let's see if I can do it, finally." "This is what you call... not doing a good job." "Makes good sense." "The things you learn." "That afternoon, Alexander takes me fishing." "He'd put a net in the lake the day before and the first fish they drag up is a salmon-like fish known locally as a shecker." "But getting the fish untangled from the net is a delicate task, so it's done with bare hands." "I just took my gloves off because they thought that my hands might be warmer." "But honestly - honestly - they're in absolute agony." "With this wind and with that water, well, I can't feel them really." "There's just stinging pain." "And these guys are like this all the time." "And..." "I just..." "Ohh." "It's complete..." "The extreme cold is making it almost impossible for the crew to work." "Not only are the skills hard out here but I'm finding it hard to learn them too, because twice while I was faffing around I heard a translator say "You're taking too long"." "That's the fact of life here." "These conditions are tough and you can't keep people waiting around." "So it's incredibly hard for me to learn anything because my learning process is just a waste of their time in these conditions." "And, er, I'm having to deal with that every day now." "After a night in the chum we're on the move again." "The brigade is headed towards the town of Yar-Sale, 180 kilometres away." "They are due to deliver 1,000 reindeer to the slaughterhouse there." "It's a crucial part of their annual income." "The beautiful landscape appears to stretch out forever but hidden under the snow are many frozen lakes." "I was just being pulled along without a care, admiring the beautiful scenery, then suddenly our sledge broke through the snow and exposed this big expanse of water." "And Sergei and I, sitting on the sledge, just nearly fell in." "It got tipped right over." "You can see our sledge tracks." "I don't know how but luckily the steer kept on pulling and so we got pulled out." "But if we'd stayed there another second, or if the other side had gone down we'd have gone straight into that water, and that would really have messed up our day." "Ohh." "Chilly place." "I've been here almost a week but the reindeer I see every day are just a transport herd." "Alexander takes me two kilometres away to see the main herd of 7,000 reindeer." "I knew it'd be an extraordinary sight but seeing all of these animals dotted around over the snow line is... is quite... quite an amazing vision." "Just the stark contrast of their dark bodies against the white snow." "It just goes on for ever and ever and... thousands of animals everywhere." "Reindeer have moved from north to south and back again on the Yamal Peninsula for centuries." "They know the migration route to fresh pastures and follow it by instinct." "The brigade travels in parallel on the same route but this is not herding as we know it." "No one really knows whether the reindeer are following the Nenets or the Nenets are following the reindeer." "We return from the main herd to find camp being made." "Men don't normally put the chum poles up." "Traditionally it's women's work but since I'm just a visitor, Tatiana has agreed I can help out." "This one?" "OK." "I just tried passing one and it was the wrong one, so I had to take it back" "There are a few jobs I can do, such as hold a pole while the others get put in place." "It's amazing how intricate even this job is." "This has to be at the right angle with the right amount of slack but there's no way I could do these other poles because amazingly even though to me they look all the same every one is different " "a different thickness, a different length and a different positioning at the top." "There's no way I'd be able to learn that in the few days I've been here, so the only job I can do is hold the middle one." "To insulate the chum, covers made of 50 reindeer skins each are placed around the poles." "Coo-coo!" "Tatiana..." "Once inside, Tatiana offers us tea with jam, bread and fish." "Ahh, it's just cold salted fish." "And the skin do you eat?" "Just pop it in?" "The initial thing is too cold to taste but as it goes down... you can tell it's fishy." "And very salty." "I'll finish this chunk but it won't be the first thing I reach for on the table in future." "The next morning, Alexander gives me a lasso lesson." "Wow." "That's it?" "Wow, thank you so much." "Spasiba." "Well, that's typical." "Not only was it a great lesson, cos Alexander's a lovely guy, but he's given me one lesson and walked off." "He's got stuff to do." "It's up to me now to learn all of that and get on with it." "Where do I start?" "It's already got a natural twist to it." "I've got to try and follow that, that way." "Smaller." "OK." "I didn't really follow his throwing technique but let's give this a go." "Nenet men start playing with lassos as toddlers." "By the age of seven, they can catch the more placid reindeer." "Children are required to attend boarding school in town until the age of 16 but they spend every holiday back out on the tundra." "Today we'll be on the move again." "The reindeer are harnessed and ready." "But before we set off Sergei wants to make a toast." "Today's a holiday, known in Soviet times as Revolution Day." "What does this day actually mean to you and your family?" "The temperature drops to minus 40." "After a couple of hours sitting on my sledge, my right cheek gets frostnip." "The hardest thing about... being on this sledge... with my face guard right open... is my face gets incredibly cold." "I've got a little thing I could pull up but then it sends all the moisture down and that ruins the fur at the front and I've been told not to do that, so I've got my face open" "and I know that I get frozen bits of skin..." "on my cheek, for example." "I can see there in the screen, I think, that, er..." "I've got a bit of a white spot, so I've just got to warm it up, try not to let the skin freeze too much." "After an hour we find ourselves in a whiteout." "It's now impossible to know exactly where we are or in what direction we're headed." " Finish." " Finish here?" " Yes!" " OK." "No, that's..." "Stop." "Under the snow there's nutritious lichen for the reindeer." "I think that's a wise decision." "Basically, what my, sort of, amateur hand signals is, er..." "I think they've decided to stop here." "Erm, the, er, the conditions are too difficult to really see the terrain ahead so if I've gauged that right we're just gonna make camp here, which is slightly short of our desired, erm, distance" "but it's good enough for the day." "Can't see a thing." "As we put the chum up, strong winds come in from the north." "It's the start of a winter storm." "Inside, we're protected from the elements by the chum." "A few of us enjoy a cup of tea." "I just came out to go to the toilet and the last time I looked at the thermometer it was minus 30, and this wind has picked up, with your face into the wind it's instantly freezing my nose." "I wondered where everyone was, I thought they were in other tents but people are just stood around having a chat like this is an absolutely everyday occurrence." "These people are so hard it's untrue." "They're nails!" "Right, off to the loo." "The next morning, the storm has cleared." "Everything seems a whole lot easier." "Get a load of this." "This'll make you laugh." "Reindeer love the salt content of urine." "So, no matter what time of day or night you might go for a pee, you can always be sure of some company." "And those antlers are sharp." "The brigade is preparing to migrate again as Sergei wants to make up the distance we failed to make yesterday." "The men start to lasso their reindeer, and I try to help out." "But my hands are so cold I can hardly feel the rope." "Which one, which one, come on!" "Eh!" "Eh!" "Eh!" "Whey whey whey!" "One thing that has struck me above all other things here is how worldly-wise, educated, informed and, er... thoughtful all of the people are that I've met." "They've all pretty much spent time in town and they've all chosen to come back here and live this lifestyle." "And so whether or not this choice continues in the future, I don't know." "But I know one thing, and that is that those who have made this choice and who are still living here now are loving it, and they truly are loving it." "They don't want to be in town, they don't like it there." "They love this - the freedom it gives, the beauty, the serenity, the peace and one-ness with nature, and who can blame them?" "You look around on a migration day like this - you're free." "At this time of year the days get shorter and shorter." "Today the sun's been above the horizon for just four hours." "Sergei pushes the brigade on." "The appointment at the slaughterhouse is now 16 days away but we still have 100 kilometres to go." "A few days of bad weather could prevent us getting there in time, so the brigade has little choice - they must continue late into the night." "It's been hard going these last few days." "This is our third consecutive day of travelling without a rest day, and I think we're all beginning to feel it." "But we did a bit more of a distance today..." "Just putting snow around the base to stop the spindrift and the wind coming in makes an amazing difference to the warmth of the tent." "It's not just shovelling snow, you've got to make the snow and smash up the ice just to do this." "It just highlights, for me, what a lot of work every time you move." "The next morning, snowmobiles arrive to take Sergei into town." "He has a meeting with the slaughterhouse company." "A lot of the kids here you don't get much out of, they're quite stoical and just stare at you." "This one's a right tearaway, he's great fun, playing with the skidoo." "He's very inquisitive, he's all over this skidoo but his dad had left... this gun onboard, so I thought I better get it off before Danil gets too inquisitive." "When he's in town Sergei will also visit relatives." "He wants to take them a gift of fresh reindeer meat." "So I'm gonna have my first taste, I think, of, er, raw meat straight from the animal and also we're gonna drink some of the blood." "Which I'm strangely looking forward to." "I wonder what it's gonna be like, this fresh." "Spasiba." "Do I need a knife or can I just chew it?" "I can just chew it?" "And this is liver?" "Tastes like raw liver." "Still warm." "Bloody." "Not a very strong taste at all." "Quite subtle." "And quite nice." "They add the salt in order to stop it freezing and congealing and it means that it's softer and more runny and fluid so you can drink it." "Now, look at that." "Wow." "It's really thick." "Salty, big lumps." "Big lumps." "It's very different to blood I've tasted elsewhere." "I think because conditions here are different but it is very salty, warm and not at all unpleasant." "It's just thick and... meaty." "As you'd expect." "Not bad at all." "Thank you." "Sergei heads off to town, leaving behind a very unhappy grandson." "Whilst Sergei is gone his herd will be looked after by his son, Yolver, a qualified vet." "This reindeer has a loose antler." "And what will you do with this?" "Can I buy it from you?" "Wow, look at that." "No pain for the animal." "Yolver noticed the antler was loose, it's just post rut season, and decided to amputate the antler." "And so there I have my first... trophy of the trip." "As a hat stand." "Beautiful, beautiful thing." "That afternoon, I visit the main herd again." "Some reindeer from the transport herd have sneaked into this one." "It's another chance to practise my lassoing." "They're trying to find individual reindeer in this herd of 7,000." "And they know them by face." "What chance have I got of knowing which one to go for?" "Absolutely no use at all." "Yes?" "This one here?" "OK." "Closer, yeah." "Finally, I've lassoed a reindeer." "I return to the chum to find Danil's mother, Raya, cooking." "She puts big slabs of meat into a pot of water and spices." "Two hours later, it's time for dinner." "I'm so getting into the routine of this." "The lifestyle here, at first, it's quite hard, it's... there's so many new things, the clothing needs to be dried right, but once you get into the routine it's amazing." "One of the best things are these family meals." "Tonight I've got reindeer with rice... which is absolutely delicious." "Delicious." "And all the breads and jams and stuff." "What is the name of this rice and reindeer mix?" " Does it have a local name?" " It's just, er, nyasa streesum." " Nyasa streesum." " Meat with rice." "Meat with rice?" "OK." "After breakfast the next morning, I ask Alexander if I can try driving a reindeer sledge." "Oh, that is so much harder than I thought it was gonna be." "It's just like learning to drive a car." "You've got both hands doing different jobs and you concentrate on one and lose track of the other." "This one's got to be longer, then shorter, and this one..." "I was all over the place." "It's quite physically exhausting as well." "The pole's really heavy." "The animals never want to leave the herd, they're always trying to double back." "It's exhausting." "Good fun, though." "Sergei has just got back from two days away in town, hopefully with news of the slaughter and how the proceedings are gonna go ahead." "Nice to see you again." "We've missed you." "Fantastic." "I hope your journey was a good one." "As we settle down for dinner, Sergei reveals some bad news." "A layer of solid ice over the snow is what every reindeer herder fears." "Sergei calls a meeting of the reindeer herders." "Sergei is concerned about the icy conditions ahead." "But tomorrow we'll push on towards the wooden corral where he plans to separate the reindeer for slaughter." "Whoa-ho-ho!" "Next morning, all the sledges are ready to set off early." "When it's our turn, Alexander lets me drive the sledge." "It's a privilege to be part of this massive migration and an absolute thrill to have the reins in my hands." "When we come to a stop that afternoon our worst fears are realised." "This layer here, all of that is solid ice." "It's become soft here but this on top..." "Yeah." "This is a real problem for these people." "I really feel for them." "It's impossible to know what to do." "And they don't know how far these conditions will be." "This is real serious stuff." "We travel for two more hours." "Just as suddenly as the icy conditions appeared, we find the snow improving, with better grazing." "As we start to make camp, a gas company helicopter flies by." "The increasing number of natural gas plants in Yamal is another ecological worry for the Nenets." "Future pipelines will block migration routes unless extra money is spent to raise the pipes above the tundra." "And of course, there is always the potential for industrial pollution." "I wish I could reassure Alexander about the future." "The Russian government insists it will defend the rights of its indigenous people but they opposed a UN declaration on the issue because they said it would not be effective." "The next morning, the main herd is taken to a wooden corral nearly 60 kilometres from town." "This may look mad but it's well organised." "The main unsorted herd at the back is getting fed through these two holding pens into this central sorting pen there, as quickly as we can, to reduce the stress, we're marking and inoculating them and then they're split." "Behind me are the animals going for slaughter and then the rest of herd, down here in this large pen, where they're gonna carry on with the brigade into their winter pastures." "I have got no job." "I'm gonna find my own fun, and at the moment that means swatting reindeer." "Bruce Serroteta." "I'm touched that Sergei suggests I'm part of the Serotetta family." "Perhaps I have been of some use to them after all." "What I'm best at - shovelling shit." "This morning we will take 1,000 reindeer, all selected for slaughter, towards town." "The Nenets care deeply about their reindeer but they've raised them for food, clothing and a profit." "The transport herd is having a tough time." "As we move south, the terrain is becoming more difficult." "Oh!" "Hey!" "Reaching this undulating terrain, and with this really deep snow here, these animals are struggling a bit." "The poor beasts are having a hard time pulling these heavy sledges up the slope." "Sergei needs to get the herd to within a few kilometres of town but some of the animals are exhausted and can't walk any further." "This is our last push before town, we're pushing the animals hard today because the grazing's not great, and some of the weaker ones aren't up to it, so we're picking up ones that can't keep with the main pack" "and sticking them on the sledges just to help them out." "We continue until nightfall." "When we set up camp we can see the lights of the town in the distance." "This is the last time I'm gonna do this, the last chum I'm ever gonna see go up, cos tomorrow morning we take the animals into town." "My final night's rest in the chum is a short one." "Today we're leaving extra early - it's about two in the morning - because we're only ten kilometres outside of town." "And the reason we're leaving so early is because we've got to get the animals into town and into the corral in town before it's light, because if it was light they wouldn't go into the corral," "the corral's literally in town." "So we're gonna try and do it all under the cover of darkness and try and fool them into going in before actually they know where they are." "Sergei agrees that I can ride with him at the front of the herd." "We're just approaching town now." "What looks like the corral ahead - there's a few lamps, a big red light." "The herd is right behind us, following us in." "They're getting a bit skitty." "They can probably smell something different and they're not that excited, but right now it's going OK, they're following us." "I can see the fence..." "We pass through the entrance of the corral." "Now all we can do is wait and hope the reindeer will follow us inside." "It's a success." "Once the gate is closed, lights around the corral can be switched on." "Once again, transport animals have become mixed up with the other reindeer." "One by one, they have to be removed from the corral." "If only these, er, animals knew why we were trying to separate them they'd form an orderly queue." "Small groups of the selected animals are gradually pushed towards the slaughterhouse." "The final roundup now." "Hey!" "Just pushing the animals into the queue there." "See the line, get them into single file." "It's the sad bit, really." "We know what goes on the other side there is, er, all a bit nasty." "As dawn breaks, the work at the slaughterhouse is nearly finished." "Soon, Sergei and his family will visit their home in the town." "All Nenets who live in the tundra have access to such homes." "Sergei stays there just a few times a year, when he's picking up supplies or has meetings, and I join him in his house for dinner." "I've always known they had a place here but I'm still startled to see Tatiana cooking on a gas stove and to be sitting on a sofa with Sergei while we watch television." "The whole experience seems surreal." "Wow!" "Look at that." "What a spread." "But during the dinner conversation it's made clear why so many Nenets will always prefer to live on the tundra rather than in town." "For Alexander, the answer was obvious - what value is material comfort when its cost is your freedom?" "After dinner, the Serroteta family is eager to get back to their chums in the tundra." "It's time for me to say goodbye." "Spasiba." "Thank you." "Thank you for your help, you've been a wondrous host and teacher." "It's sad to see my friends go." "They've given me an extraordinary glimpse into their way of life." "The Nenets are one of the last groups of true nomads still moving across their traditional land." "I hope there will always be a place for them to migrate in the Siberian tundra so that they can continue to live freely with the reindeer."