In the Arctic Circle, which is freezing cold at minus 30 degrees, two 15-year-old Sami girls have 2,000 reindeer!
When we think of reindeer, we think of fairy tales, but the Sami reindeer are not fawns in the forest, nor do they encounter witches, polar reindeer are just species that appeared during the Ice Age, living in the cold Arctic Circle.
And there is a people named Sami who seem to be bound to reindeer, they are the last reindeer tribe in Northern Europe, and they are also one of the last nomadic peoples in the land, although modern Sami people live in the illuminated Sami town.
But they still live on reindeer for generations, which is like something handed down from their ancestors, and you can't say give up. For the Sami, everything they have comes from reindeer, whether it's food or clothing, whether it's transportation or money.
According to the stone carvings, the cooperative relationship between reindeer and the Sami people dates back 8,000 years, and the ancestors of the Sami people learned to use the deer's instincts to control the deer herd in the process of raising reindeer.
Every winter, the reindeer eat the moss of the snow ice, and the Sami people need to escort the reindeer to the summer pastures, and every spring the reindeer undergo a great migration.
But before the Reindeer Migration, the Sami needed to pick out a group of deer that were healthy and strong enough, so they herded all the reindeer into the enclosure and gathered them together, and then screened them according to the wear of the reindeer's teeth.
Tooth loss means older and it's time to slaughter. The Sami would then sell the skins and flesh of the deer in exchange for income.
If the teeth are intact, they can be kept until next spring.
The deer selection work of Ella's family was already in full swing, and Ella and her sister skillfully threw the rope with the snare, and then pulled it with both hands, and in minutes they picked out all the emaciated reindeer.
The journey was 250 kilometres long, and the Samis led reindeer from the snow to a small island on the Norwegian polar coast.
Ella was a little worried about the long and difficult journey, and she decided to pack up in advance and prepare what would be used on the journey.
Ella's grandmother also came to help, she has been involved in many reindeer migrations and has a lot of experience.
Grandma prepared a deer wool coat and deer head shoes for the Ella sisters and their mother, which was made of reindeer fur and was several times warmer than ordinary clothes.
Deer head shoes: As the name suggests, it is the sole of the reindeer's head, which is strong and durable.
In fact, all parts of the reindeer's body have uses, and it can be said that the whole body is a treasure.
Their hooves are large and expand outward into cup shapes, which not only helps them walk better on the ice, but also serves as a shovel to make it easier for reindeer to cut through the snow and look for moss under the snow layer to eat. At the same time, the fluffy fur of reindeer can also help them effectively resist the cold.
The timing of migration is very important, the departure is early, and the reindeer cannot cross the mountains. Departing too late, the doe will give birth before it reaches its destination.
But this departure time, the Sami people can not decide, pregnant doe than the Sami know the time of departure more clearly, because they need to produce in the summer pasture, when the time is ripe, the doe will naturally advance to the coast, the Sami people just need to follow.
Ella's mother, May, recalls: "I remember one year, the weather was very bad, I couldn't see anything clearly during the migration, but I followed the reindeer all the way to the island safely.
Reindeer guide them through wind and snow, so in the polar regions, the Sami need to know the reindeer well to keep them safe.
When everything was ready, this year's reindeer migration began, with three generations of Ella's family driving thousands of reindeer. The snowmobiles that Ella and her sister ride are a means of transportation that modern Samis rely on, and in the past, people could only use brute force sleds, but even with snowmobiles, the job would still be hard.
Male deer, unlike pregnant doves, are not in a hurry to migrate, so Ella and her sister need to be very focused to ensure that no reindeer are left behind.
After a day of driving, people and deer became very tired, and the Ella family simply set up a tent and decided to rest here for one night, and the Sami called the tent "Rau", which was also made of reindeer fur.
During the break, the Sami people like to sing, and expressing their mood through the "Song of Sami" is also one of the pleasures of the long migration journey.
The next day, Ella's family was in a worse situation.
This year's climate is warmer than ever, with the snow melting prematurely revealing small patches of grass where reindeer don't want to go, they just want to graze.
At the same time, the snow is relatively soft, which is not conducive to snowmobiling, resulting in a slowdown in the migration journey, Ella and her family have to forcibly drive the deer, and finally the reindeer are back on track and continue to move forward.
Over the next few days, as the temperature grew higher and the ice began to melt, the reindeer could not pass through the lake that had melted, and Ella needed to find a solid place along the edge of the lake to ensure the smooth passage of the deer, but it would take a lot of time.
During this time, Ella and her sister decided to pass the time by fishing.
First, they chiseled a hole in the ice, then put in the bait, and finally sat and waited for the salmon to be hooked, because now is not the best time to catch fish, and the sisters sat for a while before the rod moved.
Luckily, they caught an authentic Arctic salmon, and everyone was very happy, and they could be considered to be able to relieve their hunger and eat a full meal.
Ice fishing has always been a Sami tradition, as in the past there were no snowmobiles, and the more food you find on the road, the less you can carry.
On the 9th day of the trip, far from modern society, the children listened to Grandpa's stories at night and then slowly fell asleep.
The journey is halfway through, and all that remains is downhill, less than 100 kilometers from the coast.
For the Ella family, it was a race against the seasons, and Ella and her sister rode a snowmobile to prepare to meet their grandmother, who arrived by coach because the reindeer needed to cross the road, and several more people had to stop the traffic in advance so that the passing vehicles would not injure the reindeer.
However, they need to wear the Sami costumes brought by their grandmothers, so that the driver will understand that the reindeer will soon cross the road.
Just in time, Ella's parents had just taken the reindeer down the hill, and soon all the reindeer had crossed the road smoothly.
At this time, the pregnant doe was about to give birth, and Ella's family chose to use a modified car ferry to take them to the island, which was the easiest and fastest way.
After a few round-trips, the deer herds were all sent to the island, a small island with fertile pastures that did not threaten the lives of the reindeer cheetahs and bears, and then hoped that the reindeer would have a pleasant summer holiday.