Transition from Transport Reindeer Herding to Reindeer Pastoralism: A study of Indigenous Governance during Change

Introduction

Aboriginal societies around the world have independently transitioned their production mode. In northern Eurasia, the transition manifested itself in a movement away from transport reindeer herding towards reindeer pastoralism from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. Although this was one of the most significant changes affecting circumpolar people across the region, much remains unknown about the drivers of this transition, and even less about its consequences for indigenous governance and social relations.

Context

Northern Fennoscandia was one of the first regions to witness the transition, and the indigenous Sami of northern Sweden are an especially suitable case for addressing these gaps. The historical sources are exceptionally rich, and the Sami are a very interesting case because reindeer pastoralism developed in a foraging culture, with many households continuing as hunters and fishers even after the transition dominated society.

Hypothesis

A central assumption is that the transition to reindeer pastoralism was induced by market opportunities. TransRein builds on the hypothesis that the transition of these societies was driven by concomitant, self-governed responses as the transition progressed.

Objectives

TransRein will advance research about indigenous reindeer-herding societies beyond the state of the art by pursuing the following three objectives:

1. Create a detailed depiction of the transition from transport reindeer herding to reindeer pastoralism among indigenous Sami, focusing on governance of natural resources and—for the first time—its effect on social relations, and significantly deepen our understanding of indigenous governance, 1550–1800.
2. Identify common forces behind the transition through comparisons with other reindeer-herding societies in Eurasia that underwent the same transition.
3. Place the transition in two wider contexts: the transitions from foraging economies to pastoralism in other societies, and the transition in a European context of early modern agrarian change.