On Encountering and Holding Reindeer in a Convivial North

Building on theories of Mauss and Beuchat, Kochan, and Ilych, this chapter posits a model of Arctic conviviality. By looking at the North as a convivial space described as affordances and opportunities in the climate and landscape, we are better able to understand the complex way that Arctic indigenous people negotiate relationships with animals that share the space with them. The chapter focusses on neighbourly relationships between humans and Rangifer suggesting that there is no hard and fast difference between semidomestic and “wild” Rangifer. Instead differences in climate and economy point to ways that animals are held to differing degrees at a distance, while maintaining an atmosphere of mutual awareness.