Imagine living in a place that must be rebuilt every month. This is exactly what the indigenous Russians of the Far North do. Many of them are reindeerherders, and they travel in their houses from one place to another just like they did centuries ago.
So, what exactly does the chum, or what the reindeer herder’s tents are known, look like and how much money will a family have to save up to afford one? A Chum is a type of tent found in Yamal. Chums are a form of mobile home for nomads. The winters in the Far North can be extremely lengthy and cold, web treasure hunter particularly in the tundra. So it is important that a chum does not only be easy to assemble but also very comfortable and wind-proof. The design is quite easy. The frame is made from spruce poles and then covered in reindeer hides in winter , and covered with a tarp in the summer. It takes approximately an hour to put one up. This task is usually performed by women (and in 2018, chum worker was officially registered as a title for a job) However, in current times this is not so strictly observed since doing it in a group makes it much more efficient. The assistant of the chum-keeper cooks breakfast in a chum in Gornoknyazevsk in the Priuralsky District of Yamal. The main space in a chum is taken by the hearth or its modern-day equivalent, a metal stove which provides heat and cooks. A hole is cut in the “roof” to let smoke out. The floor around the stove is built out of wood and covered with skins of reindeer. A chum can be separated into rooms if required. The larger a family and the more chums it has and, in turn, the more reindeer skins and poles are required to make it. Because reindeer herders work in groups, a single nomad camp could have several Chums. The sledge is called”narty. Yamal. The contents of the chum must be packed up and placed into sledges (called “narty”) on the day of departure. Then the chum is dismantled the next day. It takes a seasoned reindeer herder half an hour to take one down. Nomads frequently move to keep their herds of deer from eating all of the small vegetation that is present on the tundra. In winter, this is a regular schedule of moving every 3 or 4 weeks and then once every week or so in summer. Since the roads are the same throughout the year locals are able to find their way through the tundra without navigators. But they do utilize modern-day devices. Khanty’s chum Tyumen Region. The reindeer herders’ snowmobiles can charge their phones and laptops with generators that are electric. They also have walkie talkies that can be used to make calls to helicopters or rescuers in an emergency. What can you buy a chum? A chum can be a difficult and expensive business, despite its simple nature. To construct the poles, first find trees in the tundra. Depending on the size, one chum will typically require between 25-40 poles. In addition, these poles will not last forever. After some time they begin to degrade and have to be cut or replaced (which is very expensive). The older the poles of a Chum are higher, the lower. A chum is found in the Irkutsk Region. Next, you need reindeer skins. The more skins you have, the warmer the chum and the more affluent the family. Reindeer herders see reindeer hides valuable investments. They save for them , and then pass them onto their children. If there are no reindeer hides it is possible to cover a chum by a summer tarp (or before tarps were invented the summer versions of chums was covered with Birch bark). A chum covered with Birch bark, 1936. Yamal. A chum requires 60-80 skins of reindeer. Each one will cost around 10,000 rubles ($135). Since they don’t have enough reindeer breeding stock, it’s impossible to purchase all of the skins at once. Furthermore the skins are necessary to make boots and clothes. If in the past nomads used to make their own chums, today a family of young reindeer herders is able to purchase all the items they need on the mainland. One chum is worth 1 million rubles (13,500). This includes building materials as well as the heating stove. Day of the Reindeer Herder Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. For this amount of money you can buy an apartment or build a house in this part of the country. There are many nomadic travelers who also have apartments that are normal and where they take their holidays or live in retirement. These apartments are available through state benefits and subsidies. However, in order to survive in the tundra, a mobile residence is a must and so the primary goal of a family is saving money for a chum which they’ll use for the majority of the year. In the year 2020, regional authorities in Yamal which is Russia’s most important reindeer management region, started issuing chum certificates to young families.
