As Long as the Reindeer Roam: Keepers of an Arctic Land

This documentary project follows three Sámi reindeer herding families in their daily lives across different regions of Norway, where climate change and land-use conflicts act as quiet yet palpable forces in the background. In northern Norway, only Sámi people are permitted to continue this long tradition. Sami reindeer herding exists today in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia, each facing similar challenges. Today they balance modern practices with ancestral knowledge and traditions. Through a series of photographs taken over the course of 9 years, a close and personal insight is given into how they live with and adapt to these challenges, reshaping old ways, landscapes, and cultural heritage. Few families can survive on reindeer herding alone these days. Pressure on grazing space, state regulations, predators and climate change are each taking their toll on the business. Even among the Sami people, herding is done by few. Climate change has in recent years brought increasingly unpredictable winters in the north. Sudden weather shifts can turn snow into hard ice, making it difficult for reindeer to dig down to reach food. Warmer, wetter summers also allow shrubs to spread across the plateau, replacing reindeer lichen, their main winter food. While herders increasingly need larger grazing areas, the land used for reindeer herding is under growing pressure from other interests such as wind mills, mining, dams, cabins, rail lines, roads, tourism and more. Reindeer herding is a central pillar of Sami culture — not only a livelihood, but a way of life that carries generations of knowledge about nature and helps keep the Sami languages and culture alive. . In a time where discussions storm around nature interventions in the name of the "green transition, " can we thank reindeer husbandry for preventing more of the Norwegian nature from being developed, or is it a hurdle for progress? The project invites reflection, on the significance of Sámi culture and knowledge in modern society, our own shifting relationship with nature and our ability to take care of what is left.