tundra

A fading culture adapts to the changing times in this Arctic town

A fading culture adapts to the changing times in this Arctic town

We were eating more than I thought possible, including jellied whale casserole and fresh apricot buns, while Elizaveta Dobrieva’s family explained that their ancestors descended from the polar bear and the killer whale. Then Elizaveta disappeared into the back room of her apartment in Lavrentiya, Chukotka, and came back cradling a dark wooden carving. Its…

No fences

No fences

I haven’t told you much about the Arctic horses yet. They are beautiful survivors. They wander the taiga, over permafrost, in the coldest region of the world that is permanently inhabited by humans. They are semi-wild. People own them, but they feed themselves and wander far and free. No fences. Photo Eric Guth

City in the tundra

City in the tundra

The stories we tell ourselves. . . Anadyr is the urban heart of Chukotka. It’s home to 15,000 people, but with the apartment buildings, administration centres, a cultural complex, swimming pool, movie theatre, supermarket, mall, and some hotels, it feels like a city. It’s a city in the middle of the tundra on the edge…

Giving thanks

Giving thanks

It’s Thanksgiving in Canada today, and I’m really far away from home, so here’s a toast to Eric Guth, my companion for Thanksgiving: My team mate and dear friend doing what he does: making photographs and sharing them every way he can. The process and the moment. Eric’s cameras show up in odd places. In the…

Tools of the trade

Tools of the trade

Every trade has its tools and for every reindeer herder in this brigade that means binoculars and a good knife. We love to look for details that carry us toward a larger theme. Tools, an outfit to match the tundra, hands the same colour as the reindeer they work with. Experience that incorporates what it…

Breakfast on the tundra

Breakfast on the tundra

Breakfast on the tundra = boiled reindeer with salt, black tea with sugar, broth, and the ever present (ever delicious) fried bannock (кавкав). Food can always be a point of connection, no matter how deep the divide. So remember dear travelers: eat what you are given and sleep where you are told. There ain’t no…