Alaska's Storied Reindeer Industry Finds New Ways to Survive

Reindeer gather on the tundra of Nunivak Island in Southwestern Alaska. The herd of roughly 2,500 has roamed freely since they were first introduced in 1920. In winter, herders corral them by snow machine for slaughter, helping feed the local community and beyond. Photo by Kris Cheng.
Photo by Erin McKinstry
Reindeer Farm manager Lauren Waite poses with a reindeer from the farm ̛s pet herd in Palmer, Alaska. “They ̛re like members of our family,” the third-generation reindeer farmer said during a visit in February 2023.
Sami reindeer herders pose for a photo sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. A group of Sami journeyed to Alaska along with some of their reindeer in the late 1800s as part of the government-backed Alaska Reindeer Project to teach reindeer herding in Western Alaska. (Alaska and Polar Regions Collections, UAF-1967-17-43, University of Alaska Fairbanks).
A group of 43 reindeer fly from Nunivak Island to Anchorage in 1960. A California resident purchased the reindeer from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and drove them to California from Anchorage. (Photo by Ward W. Wells, Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, AMRC-b85-27-617, University of Alaska Fairbanks).