Youths' and their guardians' prospects of reindeer husbandry in Finland

In: Joona , T & Keskitalo , P 2021 , Youths' and their guardians' prospects of reindeer husbandry in Finland . in F Stammler & R Toivanen (eds) , Young People, Wellbeing and Placemaking in the Arctic . Routledge , London , pp. 93-119 . https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003110019-8

Abstract

This chapter analyses the future of traditional Arctic livelihoods as perceived by young reindeer herders in Finland. With urbanisation, industrialisation and rapid social and environmental changes in the Arctic, young herders face an uncertain future. Reindeer pastures are under constant pressure being narrowed and lost. The cumulative effects of climatic and socio-political changes are unclear. The conditions under which young herders raise their reindeer will likely be very different by the time they are middle aged. The chapter draws on general statistics and interviews of youth involved with reindeer herding in two different reindeer herding cooperatives in Finland (Palojärvi and Näkkälä). On this base, it analyses the changing conditions for practicing reindeer herding in Arctic Finland today compared to young herders' own perceptions of reindeer herding as a part of their future life and culture. The results show the confidence of young herders in the adaptive capacity that has been built into their livelihood for centuries. Rather than seeing themselves just as victims of dramatic global changes, young herders also display optimism towards a future that allows them to combine reindeer herding as an entrepreneur with other occupations, such as tourism. Thus, the chapter concludes that the future of traditional Arctic livelihoods is in creative diversification if the legal and political conditions allow youth to harness new opportunities rather than limiting their agency. ; This chapter analyses the future of traditional circumpolar livelihoods as perceived by young reindeer herders and their guardians (N = 12) in Finland. It draws on general statistics and interviews in three different reindeer-herding cooperatives. On this basis, it analyses the changing conditions for practising reindeer herding in northern Finland based on young herders' perceptions of reindeer herding as a part of their future and culture in addition to their guardians' perspectives. The results show that the young herders do have confidence in the centuries-old adaptive capacity built into their livelihood, which their guardians support. Rather than seeing themselves as victims of dramatic global changes, young herders display optimism towards a future that allows them to combine reindeer herding with other occupations, for example, other professions or other kinds of mixed economy such as tourism, the production of local handicrafts and meat processing. The gender-specific issue is that young women also see reindeer herding as an important occupation due to its importance in their lives. These results reveal similar results to research in other Arctic contexts on women with traditional livelihoods. The future of traditional Arctic livelihoods will be in a creative diversification process if legal and political conditions allow the youth to harness new opportunities rather than limiting their agency.