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Yakutia, a Russian republic in east Siberia, is one of the coldest places on Earth. In the winter, while barges and boats become trapped in the Lena River’s thick ice, this frozen waterway – which stretches 4,400km – becomes the main highway of the republic. Since road and rail networks are scarce, even trucks make use of this natural roadway.
Alexis Pazoumian’s
Sacha is published by Editions Andre Frere
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Yakutsk is said to be
the second-coldest city in the world after Norilsk, although its winter are colder. It is developing fast, however, and concrete blocks now tower over the traditional wooden cabins, or
izbas. Most of the buildings here stand on stilts to stop their warmth melting the permafrost
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Every year, the country’s best herders come from all over Yakutia with their reindeer – sometimes by plane – to participate in reindeer races. In this tournament, the herders are vying to win a snowmobile, vital to daily life in the Siberian
taiga, or snow forest.
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A road snakes through two frozen lakes.
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Now you see it … the small village of Ushugei, where the residents endeavour to get outside during the three hours of daily sunshine.
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Sacha, a reindeer herder, lives alone in the middle of the
taiga.
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Sacha’s canvas tent, deep within the forest. He cherishes his freedom, he says.
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Sacha uses bearskins from the previous year’s hunts as a mattress.
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Shouting, whooping and howling, Sacha gathers his reindeer, his dogs helping to round up the stragglers.
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Sacha separates the dominant reindeer from the herd before selling them to a foreign buyer. The effects of the climate crisis are in evidence here, with ice melt taking place much earlier in the spring and lasting much later into autumn. Across the region, this has forced herders to modify their ancient migration routes, as it’s difficult for the reindeer to move through the snowless
taiga terrain.
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Built five years ago, the camp where Sacha lives has just three wooden cabins and a canvas tent. This place was chosen as its creators believed it had a soul.
