At night in the Tsaatan camp you could only hear the gentle whistle of the wind through the trees, the faint cracking of wood burning in the stoves and the dogs barking
What a privilege was to have a chat with a Tsaatan chief in his ortz in the middle of the taiga. I remember he was just taking a break from his daily reindeer shepherd routine
Toward the end of last year winter I was arriving at a Tsaatan camp in Northern Mongolia. The snow was already starting to melt around the teepee-like ortz
Tsaatan are one of the world’s smallest ethnic groups (they’re estimated to be around 200). In addition to climate change they are also facing difficulties also due to the creation of the protected area of the Tengis Shishged national park, that is constraining their movements and activities in the area.
Tsaatan people are nomads reindeer herders who live in the Mongolian taiga. They move their ortz according to the migrations of the reindeer in this wild environment, which is the only one favourable to their animals.