In Yamal, big nomad families receive a ‘chum capital’
The Yamal Peninsula in Siberia is home to the largest number of Russian nomadic reindeer herders - about 10 000.
These are the indigenous peoples of the North: the Nenets, Khanty and Selkups. And they live in traditional mobile tents called chums.
Despite the apparent simplicity of their homes, they cost as much as a one-room apartment in an average Russian town and not everyone can afford to build a separate chum for themselves at the beginning.
However, from 2021, Nomad families who give birth to their third child are now receiving a so-called “chum capital” from the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous area’s administration.
What does it include? The “chum capital” is a starter kit for assembling a chum. It consists of a stove, poles, floor boards, skins, tarpaulin and a sled. The total cost of the capital is 500,000 rubles and paid only once. To date, more than 150 families have received it.
