Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:30 — 51.7MB) | Embed
Reindeer, and their very close cousins, caribou, have physical traits that help them thrive in Arctic and sub-Arctic areas. They include blood vessels that minimize heat loss and hoofs that help them walk on snow. That makes them important sources of sustenance for Inuit, Gwich’in, Sami and other peoples in the same regions. While some people rely on hunting among the herds of wild caribou, others have domesticated the animals. Either way, they have remained a key species for millennia. Climate change, overhunting and habitat loss are among the threats to wild species. We’ll hear more about the importance of reindeer and caribou and their strong cultural relationship to the people they’re connected to.
Guests:
Jody Juneby Potts (Han Gwich’in) – caribou hunter
Lloyd Binder (Inuit from the Inuvik region and Sami from Norway) – third generation reindeer herder
Nick Demma – wildlife research biologist with Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Break 1 music: Reindeer (song) Pamyua (artist) Caught In The Act (album)
Break 2 music: Aboriginal Kurdish (song) The Bart Willoughby Band (artist) Proud (album)
