Reindeer herders face hassles in Arctic Norway

STALLOGARGO, NORWAY — In the Sami language, Stallogargo means “troll beach” – a place named after the legendary creatures said to have long ago inhabited Arctic Europe.

Stallogargo is one of many tiny settlements strung along a fiord at about the same latitude as Northern Baffin Island.

Here, towering, snow-covered mountains lead down to the sea, which is kept ice-free year-round by the warm Gulf Stream.

The region is home to the Sea Sami, who for centuries lived off the ocean’s resources.

It’s also the summer home of reindeer-herding Sami who bring their animals to the coastal islands to escape the heat and mosquitoes of the interior.

Storbukt, a hamlet down the road from Stallogargo, is where reindeer herder Aslak Ante Sara is spending the summer. At 22, he’s the youngest herder in his large family.

Aslak’s family has been herding reindeer for 300 years. Every spring before the snow melts he brings reindeer here from their winter pastures near Karasjok. This year, his reindeer completed the 300-kilometre journey in nine days.

“Now, they’re spread out all over the island,” Aslak says.

Aslak can always recognize his reindeer because their ears are marked with a unique set of notches.

In September, Aslak and his family will round up their reindeer and slaughter about 400 animals.

“In a few days we make all our money,” Aslak says.

Then the herders will start off for their winter home. First the reindeer must swim across a narrow part of the fiord. Then they must cross roads and avoid houses that newcomers have built along the reindeer migration routes. Some herds — not Aslak’s — must pass near the community of Lakselv and its military bombing range.

During the winter Aslak stays with his reindeer, in a Sami siida, or camp.

The rhythm of Aslak’s life follows the semi-nomadic cycle Sami have followed for more than 1,500 years.

But it’s getting harder to be a Sami reindeer herder.

Reindeer herding is becoming more regulated, just like other businesses in Norway. As a result, Aslak must spend more time doing paperwork on his computer. He also must lobby against developments that would block the passage of reindeer.

In this far-flung corner of the Sami territory, Sami are a minority. They don’t have rights over their traditional lands to keep them open for reindeer.

As it stands now, reindeer must dodge the thousands of tourists who are on their way to North Cape, the most northerly point in Europe.

There, the road leading north — which has brought development and commercialization to the Sami territory — ends.