Reindeer breeders' chum is by no means a mountain of sticks casually covered with reindeer skins. Despite the seeming simplicity of the chum, this is a rather complex structure that an unprepared person cannot just build. And as often happens, next to the word “difficult” is often the word “expensive”. Hence the question arises: if you convert deer skins into "blood", how much will the chum cost? It will be said without exaggeration that reindeer herders have their own "mortgage" in this respect.
The reindeer herders' chum is a complex structure, not a hut made of a heap of skins and sticks piled up in one place. The reindeer herders use about 40 long and thick wooden poles to build a medium-sized tent for a young family, as well as skins taken from 80 slaughtered reindeer. For the construction of a large tent for a large family, even more animals will need to be slaughtered. It is important to understand that a herd of 200 deer gives birth to about 40 heads per year. Thus, the construction of an average chum requires at least 2 years of hard work.
In reality, reindeer herders spend much more time creating a dwelling. Since it is impossible to score 40, and even more so 80 goals at a time, with this approach you will simply exterminate your own herd. In addition, some of the skins are used to repair and manufacture clothing, footwear and bedding. Today, many reindeer herders can temporarily use industrial materials such as tarpaulins to build up the tent to plug holes in the structure where there are not enough skins to cover.
Reindeer breeders' dwellings are assembled and disassembled like a construction set. This is its great advantage. Chum has to be collected in one of two ways, depending on the season. The walls of the winter plague are thicker than the walls of the summer ones. This means that the first one always takes a little more skins. And here we are slowly approaching the cost of such a "tent". So, one tanned reindeer hide in retail is estimated at about 20 thousand Russian rubles. If you buy directly from reindeer breeders, the price often drops by half. So the average chum costs at least 800 thousand rubles, and taking into account the fact that we need more poles and a metal stove for heating, the price rises to 1 million rubles.
Is it a lot or a little? Of course, this is far from a mortgage in Moscow. But a one-room apartment in an urban settlement in the Yamal outback costs almost the same today. And considering that the chum is a kind of hut, for a "civilized" person, the "tent" of reindeer herders looks extremely expensive.
Continuing the topic, read about why reindeer breeders of the North will not give up uncomfortable clothes from skins in favor of modern down jackets.