Real-life reindeer games
An annual festival honors an ancient trade, a nomadic tribe, and a sacred animal


A herder works with reindeer at a campground in Nenets Autonomous Area, in northern Russia.
(REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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