The Reindeer People of Northern Mongolia | SLICE | FULL DOCUMENTARY

Abroad there is a huge, unexplored frozen land where lives a surprising population of nomads who Satan are known as the

reindeer

people

, there are only 200 of them and today their traditional way of life is disappearing. Finding them involves a long expedition that begins in this ancient Russian. off-road van from the 1960s. It will take me seven days to travel from the capital to the far north of the country to the Kovskol Lake region, right next to the Russian border. Thousands of kilometers of roads and paths, often in desert areas. The bridge. you are not on the right path you have to go in that direction go that way in the north you have to cross frozen rivers for three days in a van to get to where there is no longer a road or path we enter the taiga where only a few Mongolian horsemen like my guide managed to get their bearings.

I had already made this trip four years ago. I met that Satan on my first trip to Mongolia. I met a community of nomads worried about seeing their traditions disappear. He wanted to come back to film them before their way of life changed. The tsatan told me that he would meet them here in the middle of nowhere next to me. A Mongolian translator able to understand that Satan's language is Tuvan, a rare language still spoken in some Siberian communities for a long time. Let us wait, two figures appear, they come riding

reindeer

, the only animal capable of crossing the icy roads of this mountainous region in the middle of winter.

They are exhausted. I don't know what to do. They cannot travel the path in front of them. They are very tired. They won't be. Ah, we will have to spend the night here it's minus 10 degrees the nomads improvise a shelter with just a tarp under which we will all sleep close together it seems like it's snowing standing still yes, it's snowing less it's good to let the reindeer rest I'm going to add more fuel to the camp fire It's a day's walk away and I'm hit once again by the feeling of total isolation that had so impacted me during my first purple trip.

I meet the family I befriended four years ago. Magsar The father is still dressed in his traditional blue tunic. not very comfortable in front of my camera his wife Uchi she will do that and his youngest son gets out of the way stay there and I managed to catch him sugola is nine years old I will live with them for a month it is the end of autumn, a crucial period that precedes the big seasonal winter migration. These nomads regularly change camps, always looking for food for their reindeer. We are always looking for lichens, we follow the reindeer, yes we follow them, that's why we live in the Tiger, so I have a hundred reindeer, go to sleep, now I said you can sleep, I can't sleep anymore because of me, oh, I'm sorry , is filming you. no other come on, move the whole life of the titan revolves around his reindeer in the camp the animals wander between the tents and sometimes this coexistence is a little turbulent why did you undo him even tied it is dangerous this morning one of the males is in heat and it is particularly aggressive if they fight each other let's go climbing run run quickly come here the Satan live in one of the coldest and most inhospitable regions of Mongolia but in order to follow their flock they live in simple canvas tipis that are easy to transport go and throw it on your feet it's hot I'll put it here later but despite the lack of comfort I never heard them complain I'm a very lucky man I live among such beautiful nature with fresh air it's your choice.

I am so happy with my life you are in the tiger we do what we want we are free that satan always surprised me they feel privileged neither the extreme temperatures nor their isolation seem to affect them which is the most difficult thing in their life the reindeer sometimes want to enter the tipi that It's the most difficult thing. We don't want a different life. Staying here is enough for us foreigners. Oh yes, the Saturns are used to meeting in small family groups next to the Magsar TP. It's their cousin who lives there with his wife Hulan and their son.

Gana I am 25 years old and my wife is 26. We imagine ourselves to be foreigners that is why we chose to live here that was two years ago I was born here this is my mother's land my family's land I was free to live somewhere else but I had to return here. I could never live anywhere else. Who learned that Hulu's wife is not Satan. She had never experienced the nomadic life before and, of course, she had never lived in such a hostile environment. I discovered a new world and that's what I liked Outsiders think it's difficult to live here they tell me you live in such a harsh, cold and snowy region I tell them it's so beautiful so beautiful I never found it difficult question at first I had to Getting used to the climate and these temperatures is fine now, I am totally acclimatized.

I am very proud of my wife, she is so strong that she could live anywhere, even in this difficult land, she loves me and she can follow me anywhere, since she is one year old. Ghana and a half is a real tatan while the temperatures drop well below zero degrees he walks half naked when we were children our mothers dressed us like this with nothing else and as an adult you don't need clothes from Walmart that's why we dressed Gana like this the first year it was easy He spent his time sleeping and eating now it's more complicated he walks and he always wants to go out and with the cold it's hard to protect him you're always so cute come here to kiss your little one's cheeks and he's already posing for him he's not a star oh did you see the camera close he's curious He would like to get closer but he doesn't dare, and in the camp little by little I lose track of time.

Life is simple and repetitive. Only the tasks of collecting firewood and milking reindeer give rhythm to the day, the reindeer milk that they consume in large quantities. It is stored on these wooden easels that function as a freezer. Rest the sun has already broken. Don't you remember what frozen milk is when it is? frozen it doesn't break I can break I'm fragile you're funny you throw things that are fragile and never solid I tell you that frozen milk doesn't break don't worry even if it breaks it doesn't spill if we had a meat grinder we would have already finished cutting the meat oh great you scare me because your hair is like a hedgehog I'll comb my hair again then you're beautiful he says you're beautiful I look like a hedgehog I've been here for two weeks, the two families are used to my camera and they let me film their daily life and their intimacy and they even They make fun of it if you look over there, yes, no, yes, show the camera your beautiful earrings, don't look, I think.

I am filming his wife too much, but I only find out about this when I return to France and translate their conversations under the pretext of filming. He is watching my wife. I can't tell her that she would take it badly if she told him. If he stopped, do you think he would be disappointed? I filmed their daily lives, which seemed to have remained almost unchanged for centuries, hey, what are you doing? I'm taking it for myself in recent years, the modern world has been catching up to them. The Mongolian government requires all children in the country to attend school from the age of six.

Now, during the winter, the families of Saturn have to divide the children and their mothers go to the only village in the region where the school is located, while the men are left alone. the tiger with the reindeer depends on the age of the child the children are less than six years old the family can stay together in Ortega during the winter when the child has to go to school they cannot stay alone in the town that is why their mothers They stay there with them now our children have to go to school from the age of six, so we can't stay in the tiger, we have to go to the Village because we worry about them if you don't send your child to school. one will not even know the state that we do not want that if the child does not go to school what will become of him he will not be able to read count or even write his name he will not be able to have a good life would you rather stay here with your family or go to school stay here with the family yes you like school you like school it's not interesting it's not interesting do you know something?

Do you know of any family that refuses to send their children to school? because they don't want to be separated all the children go to school we are not savages in front of me magsar and uchi don't want to seem like bad parents but I know that they are torn between continuing the tradition or offering their child a different future in reality they allow themselves some freedoms during the school year it started two months ago but they decided to stay with sugarda until the beginning of winter this male is the leader of all our reindeer we made a wooden stalk in the forest yes I'm going with him you stay here I want to go when I told sugala that I wanted to interview him he immediately She put on her best treatment the traditional Nomad dress and I am nine years old I am sure of what I like she is looking for the reindeer in the forest the small school is difficult I am sad I have to leave my dad it will be great to live here with my family and the reindeer thank you I love you little brother I love you big brother the school thing hasn't been up yet Mon his parents don't seem to agree with this new law when the time comes I will decide I can't say for the moment it's our choice we will stay here together in the tiger it will be very difficult I cannot imagine the initial separation it is as if you are here without your wife and children thank you in the last few days the snow has begun to fall heavily on the tiger winter is setting in the Lichen is beginning to run out we will have to leaving the camp where the school is located is a three-day walk away and soon the mountains will be impossible magsar thinks it would be safer to make the trip with other tartans decides to visit another family that lives half a day away in reindeer from their foreign camp six adults and six children live here foreigner families improvise a celebration meal when it snows the reindeer gained weight when it snows a lot thank you you are very cute what he is eating is pasta we should gather several families and celebrate look you can slide all the way down we can remove the branches to slide better what sugar we try to slide here yes, get out of the way I can slide faster inside the tipis the adults are already nostalgic the time to part is approaching no we have to live apart for several months the weather is unfavorable that Satan does not know when to leave it will become clear in sometime where it's going it's not likely to get better until next year you laughed but what will we do when it snows? difficult complicates the situation it will get very slippery thank you finally without me really understanding why the two families cannot agree on a departure date magsar and his family returned to their camp two days later the sky is clear the luggage is not easy It's well loaded this way, fix it here, that's good, go first.

I see his belongings scattered in a mess on the floor. All his possessions fit on the back of his reindeer. Look at your head. Alright. Goodbye to my tipi. Goodbye to the place where I grew up. goodbye to the place where I was born, goodbye to the water that I drink every day that's what we say every time we leave a camp we can't let it fall on the trip with that it won't be cold the clan separates they won We won't see each other again until next summer. Each one travels. His son is still young.

They watch. And Hulan has no restrictions. They go into the tiger to set up their winter camp. They are free because the tsatan has always been Magsar. He does not dismantle his tipi he will accompany Uchi and Shugara to the village where his other children already live, then he will return here to gather his reindeer and take them further north to each other the trip will last several days give me the binoculars I want to see, I'm sorry that Magsar is worried the snow that has fallen in recent days covers the cracks but the family has no other option they have to cross four passes at more than 2,000 meters of altitude they walk between 7 and 10 hours a day the resistance impresses me at night we sleep under the stars on reindeer skins wrapped in simple blankets the parents worry about their daughter tomorrow morning we will have to make souls for her, otherwise she will be cold her socks are torn and her shoes are not suitable I am young I am not cold tomorrow we will make you souls magsar you feel relieved crossing the passes was the most dangerous part of the expedition the reindeer did well yes it was dangerous when they crossed it I was wondering if they were going to slip they risk breaking their legs and falling to the bottom of the cliff finally after Walking for three days we reached our destination abroad a huge frozen lake this is where we found Sagan Noor the only village in this uninhabited region a thousand

people

live here half of them are nomads who have decided to settle abroad a few kilometers from the Magsar village built a wooden cabin two years ago to house their family during the school year.

The couple is reunited with their other three children, a girl and two boys, the oldest two finished their studies but stay in the village to take care of their sister. 13 year old who has been back to school since September put the dumplings in the water to cook them where do I put the horrible pot? Should I put it outside? Don't leave it there, otherwise it will spill. Maxar takes advantage of returning to the Village to try to better insulate the walls inside the cabin. For the first time, I discover signs of the modern world that is inexorably reaching them in the traditional wooden sideboard, a small television powered by solar panels.

I wonder if they see and above all What do you say, they talk about our world like the old manSaturn Magsa and his family are animists and practice shamanic rituals every morning I offer nature and the spirits the first tea of ​​the day I throw it three times in eight directions for the sky nature mountains spirits everything around us three have passed since we arrived He still doesn't go to school and to my surprise his parents don't tell him anything. I am going to see this school that is shaking up Satan's traditional lifestyle. It welcomes nearly 500 students between 6 and 18 years old a quarter of the year.

They are tatan please miss no, you have not calculated correctly you have to multiply not divide 30 teachers and professors teach here

full

time the director of the school is Satan himself I feel that she is very involved in her mission, it is difficult to work here, but I I was born here in this region, I lived and worked in this village and about 10 years ago I moved to Ulambatore there I worked as a pedagogical manager teacher and even secretary of the Academy, then I decided to return to my birthplace to make my contribution to the development. this school thanks to my experience today almost all of satan's children go to school but some very irregularly this is the case of the eldest children of magsar Bhaskar on the left went to school from 12 to 18 years old on the right of 9 to 15 years old I asked them about their future and what they would like to do later in life I don't know ah it's a fact like my father I have no idea I want to be a horse breeder I would like to take care of horses in the summer and follow reindeer in winter.

I love this area and having livestock, that's why I didn't go to university. I missed the reindeer too much. They are so beautiful and especially so cute. The choice of the two boys did not Delight for the whole family yesterday the children brought milk which is tastier the reindeer or the cow reindeer of course Galia is 72 years old she is the children's grandmother she does not understand them very much they want to leave school to live like Saturn Yes, if they really choose this life, I think it will be difficult for them, they will grow up and over time they will want to get married, yes, but without knowing how to read or write it will be difficult to find a wife, they will be forced to do so. stay in the tiger later maybe they will regret it and blame us for that why didn't you send us to school obviously a child doesn't want to go to school it's up to the parents to force him to spend the days and sugara stays at home, I sense that magsa is sad and nostalgic he will soon leave his family and go to the tiger alone with his reindeer we have no other option the reindeer need to eat like him and here they have nothing to eat magsar really doesn't want to talk I try to ask him about sugara who is not going yet to school is their choice and you always let your children decide yes and uh you are afraid for your children's future I don't know I hope they have happy lives the world is changing and what to do If you think about the world today, it goes in the wrong direction.

Foreigners will manage to maintain this fragile balance between their tradition and this modernity that little by little is invading the promise that will arrive three years later. I'm back in Mongolia curious to know what has become of Magsar and his family I head to the Tiger in the heart of winter in this freezing cold the world of Saturn seems even more inaccessible even more isolated who's looking and Hulan still looks so in love Ghana is four years old he has a little sister that I show you the images that I filmed magsa like every winter now he had to leave his family I find him in the mountains where he joined a group of breeders yes his youngest son stayed in the village but maxar half tells me that they still don't go to school or very rarely sumia the youngest son is there it is the first time he has accompanied his father since he left school together they will perform the great winter transhumans they will take their herd of one hundred reindeer to the north of the country thanks You, Saturn, delve into the depths of the Tiger as its ancestors have done for centuries.

It is between -25 and -35 degrees. Three days on reindeer back in a forced march. Tiredness and cold sometimes cause Riders to fall. What's happening? You have teary eyes. You see well my eyes are

full

of tears I'm getting old my eyes are watery it's not good it's a wind that makes me cry there are a lot of stones I almost fell it's really not your day nomads only stop when they find an area rich in lichens in The camp no longer has children's laughter or female voices. From now on it is a universe of men.

The Breeders will now live separated from their families until spring. They will return to the Villa, each one in turn, a few days a month, if the weather permits, when I I'm here I think about my family who is in town all the time when I go down there I think about my reindeer Magsar resigned himself to spending the winter isolated away from his family but he wonders how much longer his children will last living like this this was lost in his heart del Tigre at minus 40 degrees under a simple foreign honey TP