Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Reindeer and Dogs in Modern Tozhu Mixed Economy in the Republic of Tyva (Russia)

University Of Alaska Fairbanks Campus, Fairbanks AK

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports ethnographic research in the Republic of Tyva (southern Siberia, Russian Federation). It examines the complex economic and social relationships that have evolved between indigenous hunters and herders and their working reindeer, dogs, and horses. The award will allow to study how centralized economic planning affected the relationships between Tozhu reindeer herders and hunters of Siberia and how, when these restrictions were removed, the Tozhu successfully re-adapted to their ancestral way of life. The researcher accurately argues that understanding these relationships are key to a wider understanding of indigenous economies' resilience to change and the long-term sustainability of indigenous livelihoods globally. The Tozhu traditionally relied on reindeer, dogs, and horses for food, transportation, and hunting. However, during the Soviet era large-scale reindeer herding was promoted by the government, which also instituted a policy of killing dogs, which ultimately caused the disappearance of indigenous breeds. In the post-Soviet system, dogs have once again become an integral part of hunting and herding among the Tozhu and this research aims to understand the complex role human-animal relationships play in the foundation of the Tozhu reindeer herding communities in the 21st century. Very little research has been done on this topic and none in this region of Siberia.