Keeping the peace in frozen Far North

KAUTOKEINO, Norway - Mathis Andreas, an indigenous Sami reindeer herder, sees a snowmobile with glowing fluorescent strips approach his remote cabin in the frozen tundra and worries what the neighboring herder may think.

It's the "reindeer police" in Norwegian Lapland, the only force of its kind in the world. Their job is to prevent conflicts between herders and ensure the Far North doesn't turn into the Wild West.

Here, far above the Arctic Circle, the reindeers' grazing grounds can be a source of conflict. Some argue there are just too many reindeer, while harsh weather conditions can make it difficult for the animals to access their main diet, lichen, under the ice-covered snow.

The Sami - formerly known as Lapps, a term now considered pejorative - have been herding since ancient times, selling the reindeer meat, pelts and antlers which are used in handicrafts.

On the Finnmark plateau in northeastern Norway, where the herds spend the winter grazing after returning from their summer pastures on the coasts, the number of reindeer has been capped at 148,800.

Herders don't always agree on the division of their grazing grounds, with no fences separating them.

Insults, threats, stealing or killing animals, and, more rarely, fisticuffs or gunshots: although it's nearly deserted, the Far North is no stranger to violence.

Enter the "reindeer police".

"If there's a disagreement between one herder and another, we play the go-between and we try to find a solution. We are a kind of peace mediator," said Jan Tore Nikolaisen, a former soldier, who has served in the unit for more than a year.

The "reindeer police" was created in 1949 to put an end to the widespread poaching that erupted after the Nazis' scorched earth policy left the region devastated.

Today, the 15-member force patrols an area of 56,000 square kilometers more often by snowmobile and quad bike than by car, usually at a distance so as not to frighten the herds.

The force's very name is debated, as its members deem it too narrow and misrepresentative.

"We don't just work on reindeer herding," says its chief Inger Anita Ovregard at their headquarters in Alta.

"We also watch over nature and ensure that the public respect the rules, whether it be hunting, fishing or motorized travel," she adds.

And herders find the name stigmatizing, claiming it insinuates that crime is more common among them than the rest of society.

"It gives the impression that this police force is here only to deal with these damned herders, but it has many other roles," says Anders Oskal, director of the International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry.

"There are challenges everywhere but, overall, reindeer herders are decent people trying to have a decent life."

Norwegian police officer Jim Hugo Hansen looks through his binoculars as a Sami points out his reindeer herd during a patrol in Finnmark county.Jonathan Nackstrand / Afp