About 3,000 reindeer crossed an ice road between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk, in the Northwest Territories on Sunday. This was the 80th time the animals were herded from their wintering ground at Jimmy Lake to their calving grounds on Richards Island near Tuktoyaktuk. In spite of the blustery, snowy weather, crowds came out to see.
A long journey
The ancestors of this herd were first brought to the area from Russia by the Canadian government in 1935 because there was a shortage of the native caribou, a staple food for indigenous people living there. The reindeer had travelled to Norway then to New York City by steamship, then to Seattle, Washington by train and north again to Alaska by ship.
Indigenous Saami herders and Alaska natives herded them across the land on the final leg to Canada’s Mackenzie Delta. The portion of the journey from the northern U.S. along took five years and one participant was said to have called it a tough slog which the government had not prepared them for.
Reindeer meat back in demand
The Canadian government owned the herd until the 1960s to provide meat to local people. When the caribou returned in greater numbers, the reindeer were not needed and the herd was sold.
Currently, caribou populations have again declined and there is a greater demand for reindeer. Some of the meat is distributed locally or sold privately.
See video and archival photos of thecaribou crossing.
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.