REINDEER HERDERS ASSOCIATION

Savoonga Reindeer Processing Facility Project Featured 

Alaska Public Media’s Alena Naiden featured the Savoonga Reindeer Processing Facility project, led by the Native Village of Savoonga with support from Kawerak including facilitation by Alice Bioff of the Kawerak Community Planning and Development (CPD) Department for many years, as well as the Reindeer Herders Association (RHA). Many long-time RHA partners, Savoonga’s RHA Representative (Richmond Toolie) and long-time Elders are featured in the story both on the radio (Alaska News Nightly for October 22, 2025) and in print.

Read the news article “As climate change threatens subsistence, Savoonga is going from reindeer herding to a red meat industry” on Alaska Public Media here: https://alaskapublic.org/news/alaska-desk/2025-10-22/as-climate-change-threatens-subsistence-savoonga-is-going-from-reindeer-herding-to-a-red-meat-industry

Listen to the story on Alaska News Nightly (story begins at 15:17) at https://alaskapublic.org/programs/alaska-news-nightly/2025-10-22/alaska-news-nightly-wednesday-october-22-2025

RHA Featured on Institute of Tribal Environmental Professionals 

RHA Program Director, Nathan Baring, and 4th Generation Reindeer Herder and HLRM Program Manager, Bonnie Scheele, were featured in a profile of RHA published at the Institute of Tribal Environmental Professionals at Northern Arizona University. As part of this feature, RHA was able to present to a large cohort of Tribal environmental staff across the nation about the opportunities in reindeer husbandry.

Read the profile here: https://www7.nau.edu/itep/main/tcc/Tribes/ak_rha

RHA Herder interviewed on ‘Native America Calling’ episode dedicated to Sámi reindeer herding in Alaska 

Fourth generation Inupiaq reindeer herder and RHA member, Bonnie Scheele, of Midnite Sun Reindeer Ranch, was featured on the May 22, 2024 ‘Native America Calling’ episode entitled “The Sámi Reindeer Connection in Alaska.” Scheele, who owns a reindeer herd just outside Nome on the Davis grazing range, spoke about the impact of the 1937 Reindeer Act as a rare example of food security and reparations during colonization. Scheele also highlighted the work of RHA partner organization, UAF Northwest Campus’ High Latitude Range Management Program (HLRM) and the continued role of the Seward Peninsula reindeer economy in meat sales, food security and value-added processing.

Also featured on the episode is Dr. Sean Asikłuk Topkok of UAF’s Cross-Cultural Studies Department, who hails originally from Teller, and carries a family history with the Kakaruk Herd.

Listen to the episode on https://www.nativeamericacalling.com/wednesday-may-22-2024-the-sami-reindeer-connection-in-alaska/, or wherever you get your podcasts, to hear more about this impressive history and the excitement around reindeer herding moving forward.

Reindeer! Podcast on “The Ongoing Transformation” 

In Alaska, reindeer are much more real than the fantasy animals that pull Santa’s sleigh. Introduced to Alaska from Siberia by the US government in the 1890s, reindeer were part of a strategy to solve food shortages among the Native peoples after the gold rush. Today, reindeer provide food security and economic opportunities for the Alaskan Native community. Even more so than farming, reindeer herding requires a deep understanding of the needs of Indigenous communities and academic science—as well as how to navigate and influence local, state, and federal policies.

On this episode, host Lisa Margonelli is joined by Jacqueline Hrabok and Bonnie Scheele of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’s High Latitude Range Management program to learn more about the interplay of science, policy, and community in reindeer herding.

Listen to the episode on https://issues.org/reindeer/ or wherever on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/18QaZVzyUfPQL6HzQvdPmC?si=tg5_qJEPQJShU_KieZNiNA.