Reindeer Luck and Humanness
by Niillas Oskal

I will attempt to articulate a reindeer Sami understanding of what is human and what is a worthy life, as expressed in qualitative distinctions centered around the term "reindeer luck."

Johan Turi writes that in reindeer husbandry and trapping, knowledge is not enough to be successful. One must also have luck. We have ten calves each. In the spring your cows have eight calves, seven females and one male. My cows have five calves, three females and two males. By autumn seven of your calves are alive, while only three of mine have survived. The following years are similar. Why? At this point we can say that you have good reindeer luck, while mine is not so good.

There is a difference between reindeer luck and plain luck. Reindeer survival can be ascribed to either, or more correctly, plain luck can come from reindeer luck. Reindeer luck is not incidental. You are lucky if the summer grazing land or an avalanche doesn't take any of your reindeer. This could be plain luck or reindeer luck depending on whether it was an accident or not.

For example, your reindeer luck can even improve if the summer grazing land or avalanche is just taking its due. If such is the case, being lucky or unlucky is not an issue. It is easier to describe plain luck than reindeer luck.

You have reindeer luck if your reindeer survive and the herd prospers. The cows calve. The herd lives healthily and is well provided for and beautiful. The flock is beautiful if it is composed of many reindeer of different shapes and colors giving it a picturesque unity with contrasting black and white in different patterns. In addition, it should contain many adult bulls and animals of all ages.

But a colorful deer in itself is not necessarily beautiful. Deer with large contrasting spots are not necessarily considered beautiful and do not bring reindeer luck with them. But, while colorful deer are not necessarily attractive, they can be useful in many situations. Everyone in the siida remembers it and will immediately notice if it is missing and in that way notice if other deer are missing, something one might not notice until much later. In summertime when it can be difficult to locate a flock, it is much easier to spot deer that stick out.

With good reindeer luck, there can be a beautiful and large herd. The herd should not just be large, it should be beautiful. It should not just be beautiful, but also large, but it is preferable to have a small and beautiful herd rather than just a large herd. To be rich in deer is not a goal in itself, but it is a value. You can say that there are enough deer to meet your needs, even though it wouldn't hurt to have more. It is rare to meet anyone who complains about having too few deer, since this would insult the herd.

Reindeer luck lasts from cradle to grave, but it can change along the way. You can influence your own reindeer luck through actions, behavior, words or thoughts. These are more important than working to improve reindeer luck. To a certain degree you can improve your own reindeer luck, but you can also spoil it, even for a long time. Reindeer luck has certain unique characteristics that neither fishing luck nor dog luck have.

Some people have good fishing luck. When, for example, two people who know the water and weather equally well fish at the same time and same place and get dramatically different results, we say that person has fishing luck.

Fishing luck also lasts a lifetime and it can get better or worse. Where it comes from is unclear, but it certainly has something to do with how the lake and the fish are treated. Acting unrestrained, swearing, or making fun of the lake or the fish is not good. It is better to fish to focus on catching fish, and to show interest. Catching only as many fish as one needs and taking special care of the catch are also important.

You can borrow fishing luck from others, but you cannot lend it. If I have bad fishing luck, I can borrow yours and fish in your name and in your place. Then perhaps I will catch many fish. I can borrow it when I need it, and so can others. I don't need to ask permission, I just think that I am borrowing your fishing luck and it is done. You can't lend it away, nor can I. Nor can I spoil your fishing luck while I am borrowing it. I can only spoil my own. Fishing luck is seen as a resource and a blessing which can be used for common benefit.

Those who have dog luck have good and talented dogs which can perform all types of reindeer work: gathering, driving, fetching, separating and guarding the herd. A clever dog can anticipate problems and take measures to protect the herd on its own. A herder may not realize until later what a good dog has done. It doesn't need commands or discipline. It works independently and uses its own judgment. Johan Turi has told the story of an agreement of mutual rights and duties between a reindeer Sami and a dog at that time when people could still speak the language of dogs.

For a dog to become a great herder is, of course, dependent on how it is raised. But it isn't enough just to train a dog showing interest and treating the dog with care are necessary to have good dog luck. Be especially careful when the dog has worked hard and is worn out. Also, do not be too strict with the dog, hit or kick it. After yelling at the dog or punishing it without reason, ask for forgiveness to keep a clear conscience and a good relationship with the dog.

Some people have ongoing dog luck and it is said about them that they have dog luck in their armpit (beanalihku gidavuolli), and this is considered a personality trait.

Fishing luck comes from how you treat fish and lakes, and dog luck comes from your treatment of dogs. Reindeer luck doesn't just come from how you treat reindeer, although that is included. Reindeer luck is dependent on how you live your life and it cannot be lent or borrowed.

Whoever has reindeer luck can stabilize their herd, increase it and eventually be rich in deer. But a large herd is not enough, it must also be beautiful. Normally a large herd is beautiful, but not because it is large. If there are too many calves in relation to cows, and too many young cows in relation to adult cows, a herd is ugly both esthetically and morally. You have not bred your own herd, but scraped it together somehow.

You can slaughter many deer, have plenty of food, be generous and be well supplied in many ways. The herd does not become smaller through slaughtering. The deer you do have survive and are well born even if they do not grow in number. Then you have reindeer luck.

Numbers alone cannot determine reindeer luck. Not everyone rich in deer has reindeer luck. Deer may have been inherited, received as wedding gifts, or stolen and rebranded. To determine good reindeer luck, the deer must survive over time.

On the other hand not everyone who has a small number of deer has bad reindeer luck, if they survive. Both the number of deer and the degree of reindeer luck can vary over time, usually in relation to age. A child usually has few deer, and herd size is reduced as old age comes, but neither are any reflection on reindeer luck.

Whether your number of deer means that you have reindeer luck today is not a meaningful question. In the first place you should not attempt to determine the exact number of deer. Figuring out the exact number of animals can spoil reindeer luck, and can lead to ongoing bad reindeer luck (guoru-luvvot). I know approximately how many deer I have and sooner or later will know how many survive. You shouldn't challenge your reindeer luck with accounting.

In addition everyone has their lot in life. That lot is usually consistent, but not necessarily, since it can only be measured when the herd experiences a catastrophe. When you experience a catastrophe that reduces your herd considerably, it is usually said that the herd flowed out beyond your lot in life. It is rare to experience more than one large reindeer catastrophe in a lifetime.

Number of deer is not synonymous with the good life. A person rich in deer can be unhappy, and a person with few deer can be happy. Unhappiness can take the form of not having a spouse or children. Reindeer luck does not in itself mean a good life, but is an ingredient.

Reindeer luck can improve or worsen. It can be ruined, but not improved for the sake of improving it. It improves if you live a value driven life. You should be humane, honest, fair and honorable, but these values do not automatically belong to everyone with a large and beautiful herd.

How your reindeer luck develops depends on how you live as a person, not just how you handle deer. You should not overwork the sled deer, frighten it or force it to work, but be observant and patient especially when the sled deer is tired. You should always keep in mind that when a sled deer cannot work it is not because of bad attitude, but overexertion and exhaustion. In general you should handle the sled deer with kindness. To not properly feed the sled deer is seen as insulting it.

The herd should not be thought of or treated as a means. It has a value in itself. It is considered in bad taste to point out a deer as fat or thin, or point out an animal as a means to an end, as an upcoming meal or clothing. This insults the deer. The hide belongs to the animal whereas the clothing made from it belong to people. These should be kept separate.

It is OK to remark on how large the deer is and what shape it is in, whether it is fatter or thinner. This is not insulting since you are comparing it with itself and not some external purpose. You may castrate a reindeer with a view to taming it as a sled deer or to fatten it up, but a castrated deer is still a deer, and should never be treated as transportation or a walking refrigerator. Such behavior would be less than human.

You should always hold your own herd in awe, and never disparage or devalue it. Therefore you never say that you have too few deer, since that would belittle it, or that you have too many, for that would challenge reindeer luck. This would dishonor both the herd and yourself as human. One way to honor the herd is to put on better clothes when seeing the reindeer for the first time corralled in the fall or when milking the cows the first time after rutting.

Reindeer Sami know that survival of deer depends on how well you get along with others. It is important to know people, not as individuals, but their family line and their situation, grasp situations quickly and negotiate without either being presumptuous or unfocussed. It is believed to be impossible to drive someone out of reindeer business if they have reindeer luck. But that doesn't mean that all sociable people have reindeer luck.

Being honest, just and honorable means that you can get along with others, but you must also get along with places - pastures, migration routes, calving places - anywhere that can be considered a home to the herd. Such places have protective spirits which you must also get along with somehow. An appropriate way is to ask for permission from the lands and to make requests of the lands. Both the reindeer and the reindeer Sami have strong ties to the grazing lands. Ancestors, memories, stories, and conversations in general would be empty without reference to their particular setting. There is little to remember or tell without including the natural landscape giving form to these events. It is not an accident that wishes and inquiries are addressed to the grazing land, and that the place through yoik is remembered, embellished, made happy and invoked like an old and loyal friend.

You can come into communication with a sieidi (a sacred place in nature), persuade and prevail upon it. In addition you can make an agreement with the sieidi, idolize it and build up a trusting relationship with it. One way to get a large and beautiful herd is to make such an agreement with a sieidi and serve it. A grazing land is not the same as a sieidi, but it may contain several sieidi. But this is not a good way, since even though you will get a large and beautiful herd, you will not get reindeer luck. There are two types of arguments against idolizing and serving a sieidi.

The first argument is that the herd of such a person will not last longer than the lifetime of that person and barely that. The descendants will be without reindeer and the herd will disappear when the server dies. The other argument is that serving a sieidi is to worship it. It becomes an idol and worshiping idols is a sin. Both Johan Turi and Lars Hætta (who are the source of much of this material) mention both arguments, Turi emphasizing the first and Hætta the second. Indignantly, Hætta (1834-1897) reports that the reason Rasmus Andersen Spein (1819-1894) stopped serving a sieidi was not because of feeling sin, but because the sieidi had become too headstrong. Spein maintained that he hadn't done anything wrong, it was the sieidi who had done something wrong.

Johan Turi makes a fine distinction between serving a grazing land as if it were a sieidi and making requests of it. Turi rejects serving a sieidi but richly describes getting along with a grazing land. He names the protective spirits ulddat (underground or little people) and háldit (a smaller group of administering spirits.) Turi's description of coming to terms with the grazing land goes beyond making wishes, and comes close to making agreements. One gives gifts, returns gifts and pays tax to the háldit to ensure that they take care of the herd. But to Turi this is not the same as giving gifts to and making agreements with a sieidi. Turi's distinction is perhaps better expressed in implying that the grazing land takes rent, rather than that we pay rent to the grazing land.

Even if you do not serve or idolize a sieidi, you should still not insult, ridicule or tease it. To act respectfully, humble and polite toward the sieidi is not the same as worshiping it as an idol. Normal politeness indicates that you should greet it and wish it well in your thoughts when passing by. It is unheard of to argue with a sieidi or enter into conflict with it. It is best to wish it peace and leave it in peace.

Another way to get a large and beautiful herd is to steal deer, either to avoid slaughtering your own or to increase the size by rebranding or marking other's deer. The same arguments apply against stealing: it is a sin and the herd will not survive the thief's lifetime, nor will there be any reindeer luck to pass on to descendants.

As stated, reindeer luck belongs to an individual and cannot be lent or borrowed. It can, however, be inherited. Reindeer thieves and sieidi servers can ruin reindeer luck for their descendants, but reindeer luck from someone who has been honest, just and honorable in their life can go in inheritance for up to three generations.

You can ruin reindeer luck by stealing deer, but not every form of stealing is just as bad, and can be looked at from three perspectives: as sinful, as immoral, and as a spoiler of reindeer luck. The worst form of stealing is to steal objects, such as tent poles in an area with no trees, or gear that has been left on the migration route. The worst form on reindeer thievery is to steal deer with the intention of forcing the owner out of herding without having any particular need for them. This form of reindeer stealing is both sinful, immoral and destructive of reindeer luck.

Some believe that it is also a sin to steal a deer for food. Others believe that reindeer luck is not hurt if you are reasonable and show some conscience in taking such a deer. It is wrong to steal reindeer for food unless there are reasons for it. You should not take a deer from someone with only a few animals, nor from anyone you know has never taken a deer from you. You should never slaughter a special deer, one that is beautiful, tame, especially fat, or one that the owner is particularly fond of. You should select a regular deer to slaughter for food, as if you were selecting from your own herd.

To select such a deer in good conscience includes thinking about why. You should do it deliberately and not on impulse, anger or ignorance. This can lead to problems with conscience. Even if it is a somewhat wrong and sinful to steal a deer for food, you do not ruin your reindeer luck if it is done reasonably and conscientiously.

Part of being human is to ask for permission and make wishes. In some situations it is a desirable way to get along with grazing lands. To do this to a grazing land is to show respect. A serious well-formulated wish has a certain courteously intended binding power. When you migrate you should wish that the migration is problem free, for example when moving from winter pasture to calving area, from calving area to summer pasture, or from summer pasture to autumn pasture. When moving around inside one area this is not necessary. When you arrive you should wish that the herd lives healthily and safely, and when you leave you thank the grazing land for taking good care of the herd.

Children are taught to make a wish when they bring bones and food scraps outside. They should wish for many deer. It is important to teach them to fully use a slaughtered animal, since that brings reindeer luck. You should really gnaw the bones well.

Another way to get along well with the landscape is to ask for permission, for example to camp or sleep overnight, even if not setting up a tent. You wish not to disturb anyone and that you be left in peace. To ask for permission and to make wishes is part of humanness, and it improves our reindeer luck. But we should do it as part of our humanness, and not just to improve our reindeer luck.

What is the path to reindeer luck and what world view is implied in its understanding? In reindeer society you should not deny the world by fleeing from it, or try to dominate or control it. You should not conquer the world, but try to get along with it and come to an understanding with it. The path to reindeer luck is through a conciliatory spirit and the ability to get along with the world.

You cannot justify actions simply to improve your reindeer luck. Good actions should be done naturally, as a habit. You should not think "I should be honest, because that will improve my reindeer luck." To speak about exact numbers of deer is seen as being confused and half asleep, but that doesn't mean you should be so dumb that you don't recognize your own deer, or if any are missing. People who may be good at recognizing deer and remembering each deer as an individual, but that is different than keeping exact accounts. It doesn't matter if you know that you are rich in deer or not, or if others are, or how large their herds are.

Our humanness does not require us to be rich in deer, and it is not a sign that we are honest, just and honorable. A large herd is good, but not a moral obligation, and not a sign of our moral stature. It is a meaningful question whether you deserve your reindeer wealth. A person rich in deer should be industrious, diligent, and generous in relationship to their herd. A person who is lazy and stingy does not deserve their wealth.

You must relate to each and every grazing land. There is no hierarchy, or one all powerful grazing land. There is not just one mother nature, but many small mothers. The grazing lands are neither good nor bad, it depends upon how you relate to them. You do not "serve" the grazing lands, but seek to be in agreement with them. To serve them would be to worship an idol and turn life's purpose into honoring grazing land.

You should not speak of your own reindeer luck, either to complain about it or to celebrate it. If others speak about it in my presence, I should neither confirm nor deny what they say. Individual occurrences I can describe as lucky, but reindeer luck is not dependent upon individual occurrences.

Reindeer luck is not the only measure of a good life. How we get along with others, primarily in our siida, has much to say. The following might be an example of individual/siida relations perhaps 30 years ago: Your siida has some strange deer and someone has lost a small flock in your herd. We imagine that you were present when the other deer showed up. A few days later a "guest" comes, who probably has deer in your herd, but it is unclear for both of you which deer he has in your herd. You know he has deer in your herd. He knows too, and he knows you know, and he also knows you know he knows.

First you speak at length and in detail about weather, wind and pasturage. Finally, after a very long time, he asks if any of his deer have shown up in your herd. You tell that a small flock of deer have shown up and you suspect that some of these were his. He asks what the deer looked like, but you can't specifically say what they looked like. You have seen the flock but you haven't really looked closely at it. If you were to precisely describe how they looked, you must be sure what they looked like and that they actually were in the herd, and preferably still are there.

If it happens that the deer you have described, or have confirmed according to his description, aren't in the herd, there can be problems. Are you so ignorant that you can't recognize deer? The deer weren't in the herd at all. Perhaps you attempt to cast suspicions on one of your siida partners, and imply that they are reindeer thieves, while you at the same time present yourself as not a thief. You present yourself both as honest and good at recognizing deer, but perhaps you really are dishonest, suspect and accuse your siida partners and at the same time try to ingratiate yourself with guests.

It is possible the deer were in the herd, but have gone through it and continued to another herd. It is also possible the deer were in your herd, but your siida partners slaughtered them. Are they reindeer thieves then? Is your siida a shameful thieving siida?

Maybe they slaughtered the deer knowingly, but why did you say that the deer was in your herd then? Do you speak with a forked tongue? Are you so simple that you just let the cat out of the bag? Can a person who cannot maintain themselves in different situations be considered true to themselves and honest? You didn't have to lie directly, you could have been indirect, and told about special deer without implying that he was easily fooled. It wasn't a special deer that was being discussed, but an average deer.

If you were unaware of what your siida partners did, can other questions be asked? What kind of siida is this where people withhold important information that concern the entire siida? Is this normal for this siida? Maybe your siida partners slaughtered it intentionally, in spite of the fact they knew you were against it? Don't they listen to your opinions and treat you like a full fledged siida member? Why are you then in this siida? Maybe your siida partners figured you would tell about this deer because it belongs to your third cousin. Perhaps they are testing your loyalty to the siida and whether you are overly bonded to your relatives. What kind of people are they who test each other's blood relations and create conflicts between relatives? Are these the kind of people you associate with? If it was you who slaughtered the deer, not only are you a thief, but also a shameless traitor.

After the reindeer are separated, the guests have gathered many deer from your herd, almost too many according to your siida partners. Your siida partners almost accuse you because you didn't take a deer for food, one that belonged to a certain person. It would have been reasonable and just for you to have done it. Your siida partners can't take a food deer from him because he never takes any from them, only from you. Are you honorable or just proud? The entire siida must, in spite of that or because of that, suffer the neighbor siida coming close to the herd and always "losing" deer in your herd.

After the guests gather their deer, there is much to discuss in your siida. You must ask yourself who you are and we must ask ourselves who we are and what our siida is. How do we proceed with our association and what are we? Is this a worthy siida or an unworthy siida?

This description is chosen to correct the view that a reindeer siida is more than just a strategically organized business with the goal of optimal herd size and meat production, where the actor makes alliances and partners with for example, relatives, and uses grazing only as a means to this end.

Reindeer Luck and Humanness has been selected from portions of chapter eight of a doctoral dissertation by Niilas Oskal, Det rette, det gode og reinlykken, Spring 1994, (in Norwegian, unpublished).