«Aliens» at Tasovsk Tundra

The idea of dividing the surrounding population into «ours» and «aliens» (or «others») can be found in any culture. The concepts compared are definitely associated with the representatives of one or the other cultures. It is possible to single out a great number of various types and nuances among «ours» and «aliens». The article deals with the gradation of the category of «aliens» in the views of Tasovsk Nenets reindeer-breeders (nomads). The field data collected during the ethnological examination at Tasovsk region of YamalNenets Autonomous Area in 2011 has formed the basis of this report. The main respondents were Nenets reindeer-breeders. The author tries to look at the «aliens» through the culture glasses of «the peoples from tundra» and to reveal the features attributed to them by the shepherds. 1) «Aliens». This group includes the workmen from the oil and gas industrial enterprises, who arrived from the other parts of the country to the North to work in these branches of industry (in Russian they are called «vakhtoviki»). The reindeer-breeders contact them at the drill sites when they come to sell or exchange fish, meat and buy food and petrol. According to the view points of the nomads «Vakhtoviki» are the people who come from the other, alien and incomprehensible world, therefore they are impersonal i.e. they are not recognized by their names. Because they are considered «aliens» the real and potential danger comes from them: they pollute tundra and destroy pastures, and it is impossible to drive them from tundra. The «aliens» destroy the local land and give nothing in return. They can often deceive and can resort to force that's why the Nenets don't believe them and don't trust them. The indigenous peoples painfully perceive any invasion on their lands. 2) «Other Aliens». This category consists of immigrants from the Caucasus and Central Asia, who are occupied in the spheres of commerce, service, housing and public utilities. The reindeer-breeders perceive this group as aliens and incomprehensible persons because they have a different lifestyle and different traditions. The Nenets have a negative attitude to the «other aliens», who are considered to be deceitful and therefore they cannot be trusted. The respondents believe that the immigrants don't plan to go back to their homeland but want to stay in the North, and they are afraid that the immigrants would invade their tundra. 3) «Our Own Aliens «. This group includes nomads from the neighbouring Gydan tundra, which is situated to the North from Tasovsk. The Gydan Nenets have recently begun using the pastures in Tasovsk tundra so they are perceived by the respondents as stranger-invaders. The rhetoric of migrantophobia based on the fear of the reindeer-breeders who own the herds of deer to be ousted from their pastures is spread on the Gydan Nenets. The Tasovsk Nenets use their pastures without any lawful grounds because according to the regional law only reindeer enterprises have legal rights to use the pastures. 4) «Other Ours». This category consists of sedentary Nenets who constantly live in the villages and semi-nomad Nenets i.e. fishermen. The reindeer-breeders consider them to belong to the group of «ours», but with the proviso. Their «peculiarity» is connected with their losing connections with tundra lifestyle and reindeer-breeding. They have lost their native language and have forgotten their traditional customs. The reindeer-breeders don't consider them to be aliens because the latter don't infringe on their land and resources. If the reindeer-breeders have negative attitude towards the abovementioned three categories of aliens, the «other ours» are spared of this xenophobic discourse.

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