Since snowmobiles were introduced into northeastern Finland during the 1960s, reindeer sleds have disappeared and the nature of Skolt Samis' subsistence and society has drastically changed (Pelto 1987) . However, this kind of change has not necessarily occurred at every site where snowmobiles were introduced. In this article, I survey usage of reindeer sleds and snowmobiles in four cases of taiga reindeer herders in the Republic of Sakha, Russia, considering differences in functions.
Reindeer sleds have been broadly used in northern Eurasia, where reindeer herding is traditionally practiced. Since the 1960s, as snowmobiles have spread in the north, reindeer and dog sleds have disappeared in many areas. Nevertheless, in recent years, reindeer herders in middle eastern and southern areas of the Republic of Sakha have used reindeer sleds on a daily basis, although they often have snowmobiles too.
In the cases that both reindeer sleds and snowmobiles are utilized, the former seem to be used for short distance travel and travel without traffic noise, and the latter for long distance travel. In the circumstances where fuel and spare parts for snowmobiles cannot be supplied stably, or the topography and vegetation are not suitable for snowmobiles, reindeer sleds seem to be utilized.
As part of daily management, reindeer are herded on foot or by reindeer riding without using reindeer sleds or snowmobiles in the cases referred to in this article. In these situations, close relationships between herders and reindeer are formed through daily herding. In the “snowmobile revolution,” the introduction of snowmobiles affected the subsistence and society of local Skolt Sami through the alteration of human-reindeer relationships. If snowmobiles were not used and the close human-reindeer relationships were not compromised in taiga reindeer herding in the Republic of Sakha, there would not
have been drastic change in the subsistence and society of the indigenous people there.
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