While it is still summer in the lowlands,
up in the valleys of the Dorkhod Sayani mountains
autumn arrived several weeks ago,
suddenly and without warning.
The colours of the forest are changing,
and little by little the entire range of reds, ochres and yellows appear.
This is the home of the Tsaatan,
one of the smallest and least well-known tribes in Asia.
For these mountain nomads the essential pillar of their subsistence is the reindeer,
but this does not by any means cover all their basic necessities.
Their living conditions are so harsh that they are the poorest nomads in Mongolia,
surviving on little more than their wits.
These people came here from the mountain peaks just seven days ago,
and they will spend the rest of the autumn here.
Though it is only the end of August, the first snows appear,
and gradually the forest is covered in a blanket of white.
But for the Tsaatan this is the best season of the year,
because they are no longer plagued by mosquitoes,
the temperatures are relatively mild,
and there is still sufficient food for the reindeer.
Their day begins with the milking of their animals.
At this time of year, the reindeer are milked twice a day,
and from the milk they make butter, a cheese called aaruul,
cream and yoghurt. Smoked meat and wild berries complete their diet.
The life of the Tsaatan has never been easy,
but since the arrival of communism, part of their culture,
traditions and daily life have been destroyed.
The herds of reindeer,
which had belonged to them since time immemorial, became state property.
Some Tsaatan preferred to kill them rather than see them disappear.
They had to answer to a Mongol official who was completely ignorant
of their customs and traditions,
and forced them to comply with very strict rules entirely unsuited to a nomadic lifestyle.
Once they have been milked, the reindeer are released,
and spend the rest of the day grazing in the mountains.
This settlement, composed of 12 families and 86 individuals,
possesses only 200 reindeer,
from which they obtain just enough to be able to buy a little flour, salt, tobacco and tea.
One thing that strikes you is that the horns of all the reindeer have been cut.
To obtain extra income, the Tsaatan sell them,
for around 4 dollars a kilo, to the Chinese,
who then turn them into a powder which is used as an aphrodisiac.
While the reindeer peacefully graze up in the mountains,
the families remain inside their tents,
around the comforting warmth of the fire.
And that, more or less is their day.
Gombo is the chief of the clan.
He was born 55 years ago in the Russian taiga,
but when he was six years old his parents crossed the border and settled in Mongolia.
He is married to Tsendely, who is 50,
and together they have had eight children, of which only four survive.
Their eldest daughter has just had a baby, whose father is a Darhat.
This is unusual among the Tsaatan, but in these desperate times,
they must seek to escape poverty whatever way they can.
Until just a few years ago,
the women only married men from other clans but of their same ethnic group.
But, as they now number just 200,
the Tsaatan have begun to suffer from inbreeding,
causing malformations and illnesses.
The Mongolian government accuses them of sexual relations
between cousins, brothers and sisters, and even parents and their children.
Outside, the snow continues to fall and the cold is intense.
The youngest chop wood – the fire must not be allowed to go out.
The Tsaatan, which literally means “the reindeer people”,
are an ethnic group originating in Russian Siberia,
with their own language whose origin lies in Turkey.
But, with the creation, in the 1920s,
of the People’s Republic of Mongolia and the consequent marking of the borders,
a group of some one thousand Tsaatan and 6,000 reindeer
remained on the Mongolian side.
Between chats and cups of tea around the fire,
another day comes to an end.
The snowstorm appears to have abated a little,
and Dalaibayar, Gombo’s elder brother,
takes advantage to go out and indicate to the reindeer that it is time to return to the settlement.
When the sun goes down, the taiga will become the domain of the wolves,
which systematically attack their herds.
The loss of an animal is a real catastrophe for the family economy,
which is already down to the bare minimum.
Every year, fewer reindeer are born,
as the problems of inbreeding also affect them,
causing diseases which they transmit to people.
With the return of the animals, the camp again stirs to life.
Each family separates its reindeer from the herd,
in order to milk them and give them salt.
Then, they prepare dinner, a little milk or yoghurt and, if they are lucky, some rice.
Tomorrow, the same routine, and if the weather permits,
the men will go out hunting while the women and children
venture into the forest to gather wild fruits and berries…
That is a day in the life of the Tsaatan,
a tribe which, unfortunately, would appear to be doomed to extinction.