Finnish Forest Reindeer
Rangifer tarandus
Status: Vulnerable, due to climate change, shifting vegetation patterns, and ineffective land use.
The Sami people of Sapmi have an intricate relationship with reindeer. They are semi-nomadic reindeer herders, moving through the inhospitable environments and treeless tundras alongside the migratory reindeer. They, and other reindeer-herding indigenous people in the Siberian subarctic regions maintain a delicate balance and harmony in their relationship to the creatures.
For the Koryak people in Far Russia, reindeer are also respected, sacred, and an integrated part of their daily life and survival. The Koryak have a legend of how Raven, the creator and first-ancestor, flew out into the stars, and returned bringing reindeer to the people.
References:
Jochelson, Waldemar. "The Mythology of the Koryak." American Anthropologist, vol. 6, no. 4, 1904, pp. 413-425.JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/659272
Charrin, Anne-Victoire. "The Discovery of the Koryaks and Their Perception of the World". Dept of Russian Language and Literature, Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, Arctic, Vol 37 No 4. Dec 1964. Paris, France. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.559.6027&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Dolitsky, Alexander B., translated: Michael, Henry N. "Ancient Tales of Kamchatka" Publication no 19, Alaska-Siberia Research Center, Juneau, Alaska, 2002.