Sunday, December 22, 2019

Christmas stories

A Filipino teacher in the rural US discusses the cultural differences:  the kids don't automatically respect her as a teacher...And she feels lonely especially at birthdays and Christmas...

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remember to ask local exchange students to come for Christmas dinner... many are lonely. And even non Christian students will appreciate the celebration of the secular version of the holiday, with it's emphasis on family and friendship

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coolgreenscience blog discusses Reindeer, and caribou. and this related post discusses the differences. Both are variations of the same species.

Reindeer are semi domesticated, which is why there was once a project to teach Eskimos to herd reindeer as the Sami do in Scandinavia.

Alaska reindeer project (1892): decline and fall.

they exported the meat and hide products, and the market disappeared, so the locals stopped herding them. Another problem: Eskimos tend to live in villages, and not roam about following herds as do the Sami.

Canada's trial that moved Alaskan reindeer to Canada

Reindeer, a more easily domesticated cousin of the wild caribou, that the New York Times called “the camel of the frozen north,” had been thriving in Alaska for several decades since two separate herds were brought over from Siberia and Lapland near the end of the nineteenth century.

discussed here. (1935)

they are still there, of course



film on modern reindeer herding: antlers are used in Chinese medicine...

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