Mongolia's reindeer herders fear lost identity
Erdenebat Chuluu, a nomadic herder, shouts words of encouragement to the reindeer he is riding.
“Chu!, Chu!,” he calls, as he urges the animal out of a cedar wood and onto a plain in the southern reaches of the Mongolian Taiga, a predominantly forested area some 200 km from the nearest paved road.
Local doctor Davaajav Nyamaa uses a telephone to call patients. The nomads use large antennas which they attach to the trees to connect to the 3G mobile network.
Local doctor Davaajav Nyamaa visits a patient in her family's tent.
Shaman Kyzyl-ool collapses after performing a ritual. "When I begin the ritual I know what I'm doing, but when the spirit comes to me, I'm not in control any more. When the spirit comes, I feel like I'm going into a dark hole," he said after performing a ritual marking the first day of the lunar month in his tent.
"At the beginning I often thought, why me? I didn't like carrying these spirits, but I can't do anything about it, because I was chosen," Kyzyl-ool said about becoming a Shaman.
Reindeer feel most comfortable in cold climate which is why the Dukha move their camps higher up the mountains in summer.
Tsetse rides a reindeer.
Local doctor Davaajav Nyamaa is an ethnic Darkhad, herders of northern Mongolia who historically inhabit the steppe that borders the Taiga forests. He grew up around the Dukha, whom he visits as a doctor for checkups and treatments in their tents on a regular basis.
Reindeer lick the salt off the coat of a Dukha nomad.
Erdenebat Chuluu walks through a forest.
Erdenebat Chuluu's daughter Tsetse rides a reindeer.
Ethnic Dukha Purevjav Roslov sells jewellery made from wolf ankles to tourists."We kill the wolves to protect the reindeer and to earn money from the tourists," he said, adding that this was his main business, as it is more lucrative than herding reindeer.
Pupils leave the village school. People who are between 35-40 years old, belong to the last generation that speak the Dukhan language, linguist Elisabetta Ragagnin said. Together with the head teacher of the school in Tsagaannuur, she is writing grammar and textbooks in the nomad's native tongue to help preserve traditional knowledge, she said.
"Tuvan... I don't really know... my parents sometimes speak it as they're older and I've picked up a few words but even though I know a bit, I can't say a full sentence," Otgonkhuu Tseveen (right) said about the native language of the Dukha. "I regret that I don't know how to speak this traditional language that my parents speak."
Baigalmaa Munkhbat dresses Tsetse as her husband Erdenebat Chuluu watches. "My husband is a very good person, he provides for us in every way," Munkhbat said. "My daughter is very smart for her age. I want to make sure my only daughter has all the skills she needs for life."
The diet of the nomad consists mainly of meat and products made with flour, like dough to make dumplings and a local type of pasta.
Ethnic Dukha nomad Jargal Gombosed drinks salty milk.
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"It's not about Dukha or Mongolian, it's about people illegally hunting," he said.
Meanwhile, on the Taiga, herders release hundreds of reindeer from a pen to graze.
After lifting the beams of the hold, the herd pours into the clearing and the animals, snouts nuzzling the snow-covered ground in search of moss, disappear from view as the evening light fades.
