Reindeer herding of the Tofalars: socio-geographical aspects of the continuity of practices during the transition to sedentism

The subject of the research is to determine the influence of socio-geographical factors on the continuity of labor practices in the mountain-taiga reindeer husbandry of the Tofalars. The ethnic economy has long been based on a combination of hunting and transport reindeer husbandry, with year-round nomadism. It has been shown that the transition to settled life and the establishment of collective farms prompted changes and adaptations in the ways of utilizing lands, labor skills, and relationships within the ethno-local community, as well as caused significant distortions in the social system. The aim of the work is to identify the adaptive nature of the relationships between traditional skills and new institutional requirements during the transition to sedentarism and collectivization. Special attention is paid to administrative measures and informal agreements that ensure systemic continuity of traditional resource management. The methodological basis consists of concepts of social adaptation, resilience, and ethno-social continuity. The analysis is based on field interviews and archival documents. The novelty of the research lies in the interpretation of the preservation of Tofalar reindeer husbandry through a hybrid model that combines Soviet institutions with traditional practices. As a result, it has been found that the relative stability of the system was ensured by informal agreements, social mutual assistance, and the preservation of the connection between reindeer husbandry and hunting. The main conclusions of the work indicate that the initial goals of the indigenous transformations of the Sayans' reindeer husbandry faced the impossibility of realization due to the insufficient consideration of the systemic nature of local environmental and socio-geographical contexts. The established system of collective reindeer husbandry and hunting arose not only due to administrative coercion but also represents the result of compromises and concessions from Soviet management, reflecting both the "geography" and "ethnography" of a hard-to-reach mountainous region. The developed collective practices and principles of interaction may be significant for the reintroduction and post-crisis development of contemporary reindeer husbandry in Tofalaria.

reindeer herding, Tofalar people, adaptation, taiga nomads, sustainable development, continuity, socio-ecological systems, collectivization, community, informal practices