Nenets village, old military vehicle, Nenets Autonomous Region, Russia
The Nenets, also known as Samoyeds, are an indigenous people in northern Arctic Russia. According to a census in 2002, there are 41,302 Nenets in the Russian Federation, most of them living in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and Nenets Autonomous Okrug. They speak either the Tundra or Forest varieties of Nenets. After the Russian Revolution, their culture suffered due to Soviet collectivization policy. The government of the Soviet Union tried to force the nomadic Samoyeds to become sedentary. They were forced to settle in villages and their children were educated in state boarding schools, which resulted in erosion of their cultural identity.
Year: 2013
From album: Oil versus protected areas in the Nenets Autonomous Region and the Komi Republic of Russia
Photographer: Peter Prokosch