Real-life reindeer games

An annual festival honors an ancient trade, a nomadic tribe, and a sacred animal

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Reindeer Herder's Day
(Image credit: Fedoseyev Lev/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis)
A herder works with reindeer at a campground in Nenets Autonomous Area, in northern Russia.
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin))

A reindeer breeder races in a competition in Lovozero settlement, Russia.
(Image credit: (Fedoseyev Lev/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis))

The son of a local herder throws a lasso in Nenets Autonomous Area.
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin))

A Nenets woman rides in a sleigh in the tundra after the Reindeer Herder's Day in Nadym, Russia.
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky))

Nenets children attend the Reindeer Herder's Day holiday in Nadym.
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky))

A Nenets man rides a reindeer sledge during a competition to mark Reindeer Day.
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin))

Crafts made from reindeer fur, as well as fish, are for sale in the Nenets Autonomous Area.
(Image credit: (Strunin Anatoly/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis))

A herder sits on a reindeer sleigh in Nadym.
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky))

A Nenets woman walks by chums, the temporary huts erected during their journeys, in Nadym.
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky))

Herders work with reindeer at a campground northeast of Naryan-Mar, Russia.
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin))

Lauren Hansen
Lauren Hansen

Lauren Hansen produces The Week’s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.