The reindeer of Siberia saved America’s Eskimos!

Despite the war in Ukraine, Christian leaders from about ten countries and republics gathered at the end of last year to talk about the future of reindeer herding peoples in Russia, the Nordic countries and Alaska. Mission and questions about church planting were in focus during the days. Few people thought then that the reindeer of Siberia saved an entire people group in North America – in the 1800s.

When thousands of men from the minority areas in Russia now have been mobilized for the war in Ukraine, many have suffered a premature death even from the reindeer herding areas . As Christians, we want to pray for the survival of Russia’s minorities as nations, but also work to reach them with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In the 1800s, Alaska’s Eskimos were on the verge of extinction as an ethnic group. Immigrants who had moved to their home area made raids and plundered their stores of whale blubber, seals, salmon and caribou, which is an American reindeer species.

The Eskimos, who had previously lived in large villages, dwindled dramatically in number because of this. In the end, only small groups of the indigenous people remained. The elderly and children were sometimes even killed by the tribesmen, so that the remaining ones could survive from the food supplies.

On one born came fifteen dead Eskimos. The immigrants from the south not only claimed the livelihood they had managed to obtain through hunting and fishing, but they also brought whiskey with them and spread many types of new diseases, which spread among the population. Fortunately, not everyone participated in the annihilation of the Eskimos. There were also people who tried to help them in different ways. One of them was a doctor named Sheldon Jackson.

Dr. Jackson was sent to Alaska in 1885 to start schools. When the snow and frost came to Alaska, he noted that the original plan had to wait – it was more important to save the future of the Eskimos as a nation. At that time, it didn’t just help with aid and support for food. They needed something that could provide them with a regular livelihood – help to selfsupporting became extremely important.

Reindeer from Siberia to Alaska

This made Dr. Jackson think about the people of Siberia from a whole new perspective. Alaskans’ neighbors in the west made a living from reindeer herding. Why shouldn’t the Eskimos be able to do the same? The climate was similar, and the reindeer were nothing more than pets reminiscent of the caribou, which had previously been found in large numbers almost all over Alaska.

Dr. Jackson then tried to get support from the American authorities for the research trips he planned to Russia. He had a plan to buy reindeer from there. When the opportunity could not be realized as he originally thought, he received grants from parishes and private individuals. In this way, he managed to make his dreams come true.

In 1891, he made his first attempt to buy reindeer from the indigenous inhabitants of Siberia, but they distanced themselves from this type of trade. There, the reindeer were an outward sign of wealth. It took several months for him before he managed to gather 16 reindeer and sail them back to Alaska. The next summer, however, his trip was much more successful. At that time, he had to transport 171 animals home. In 1893 he founded a training camp for the Eskimos and received help from the Finnish and Swedish Sami to train them in reindeer herding.

In this way, Sheldon Jackson continued for a few more years before Russia’s tsar banned the export of reindeer to America. By then, however, 1280 reindeer had already been transported from Russia across the Bering Strait. These multiplied and were then spread out to different parts of Alaska.

The Eskimos got along well with the reindeer, which in a special way improved their living conditions. They gave the Eskimos almost everything they needed: milk, meat, skins, furs, and they were very good draft animals. Without the slightest hesitation, Dr. Jackson played a crucial role in preventing the extinction of an entire human tribe. The plans were realized to such a success story that the reindeer are now an inseparable part of the life of the Eskimos, just as the buffaloes once were for the Indians of America.

(Most of the information is collected from Illustrerade klassiker – Illustrated Classics – No. 10/1956-1957, printed in Denmark, Dyva & Jeppesens Bogtrykkeri Aktieselskap, Copenhagen).

Missionary, priest and political leader Sheldon Jackson lived from 1834 to 1909. He worked as a minister for the Presbyterian Church, but also as a missionary and political leader. During his life, he traveled over 1.5 million kilometers and planted more than 100 churches and missionary organizations in Western America. Dr. Jackson is remembered especially for his spiritual work in Colorado and Alaska (Wikipedia).

Himlen TV7 has made a program series in Swedish, where I interview important key people in the mission work among unreached people groups in Europe and Asia. It’s called Folk på Guds hjärta (People on God’s Heart). Program number 1 and program number 4 are about Russia’s, Finland´s, Norway´s and Sweden’s Sami, Evenk, Komi, Khanty, Nenets and other ethnic groups, who are living in the Arctic areas.

You can find these on www.himlentv7.se under the heading archives. Then you go on and search/click on ”Folk på Guds hjärta”, where the programs are stored .

(This text is an AI-transation from the Swedish blog on the same home page).

Rauli Lehtonen