The Izvatas’ occupations and economy. Reindeer husbandry
Initially, the leading occupations of the Izvatas were hunting, gathering, and fishing, as well as cattle breeding and farming. However, by the middle of the 18th century, reindeer herding took first place in the Izvatas economy. By this time, the Izvatas began to herd their reindeer in the tundra.
Having adopted the traditions of reindeer husbandry from their northern neighbors, the Nenets, the Izvatas were the first in history to develop a special “brigade-shift” method of reindeer husbandry, which is based on the rejection of nomadic life and driving reindeer herds close to their villages for the winter period. The Izvatas’ innovations also include year-round protection of herds, access to the sea at a more convenient time, vaccination of animals against various diseases, etc.
The Izvatas were first who made a commodity industry out of reindeer husbandry and set up waste-free production: they sold not only reindeer meat and skins and suede made from them, but also horns, bones, and entrails.
In 1842 the Izvatas owned more than 124 thousand reindeer, and by 1882 this number had increased up to 194.5 thousand. By the end of the 19th century, the Izvatas became one of the largest reindeer herders in the Bolshezemelskaya tundra. The activities associated with reindeer husbandry also developed naturally: suede making, transportation, reindeer products trade. For example, by 1900, suede was made at 62 tanneries, all owned by the Izvatas manufacturers. Izhma and Krasnobor volosts were the centers of suede business.
Trade is actively developing. The Izvatas traders are establishing trade relations with the fair centers of the Vychegodsky krai – Turya, Ust-Vym’, Yarensk, Tuglim, and Solvychegodsk. Fish, reindeer skins, and other products are brought to the Solvychegodsk fair. Over time, fairs began to be organized in Izhma itself: two during winter and one in summer. There one could buy reindeer products, game, red and white fish, butter, and furs. Perhaps, it is surprising to find butter on this list. Dairy cattle were brought to Izhma from Ustyug, and just like with reindeer, the Izvatas chose an innovative way and developed a new breed based on the imported cattle. The breed turned out to be so successful that in the middle of the 19th century it was written: “Nowhere in the Arkhangelsk province is such delicious milk and butter prepared, only in Izhma … where one can produce cheeses of no worse quality than Dutch ones.” Even now, dairy products from Izhemsky district are known for their quality both in the Komi Republic and other regions.
In the late 19th – early 20th centuries, each village located on the banks of the Izhma river had its own millionaires. The Izvatas family clans controlled vast territories from the Kola Peninsula to the Ob Bay. It was the Izvatas families who carried out all the small wholesale trade in the European north of Russia. In the late 19th – early 20th centuries, Izhma suede was also recognize on a worldwide scale – at fashion shows in Paris. By the way, echoes of the former direct trade with France are still preserved in the Izhma dialect, for example, the French word “canapel” (canapel – a sofa (in the Izhma version – a carved wooden sofa).
Reindeer husbandry was not only an impetus for the growth of the Izhma economy but also one of the factors that led to the migration of Izvatas and consecutive territory expansion: if by the beginning of the 19th century only the lower part of the Izhma river and the adjacent territory of the Pechora river basin were developed, then by the end of the 19th century the entire middle part of the Pechora river with its tributaries (the Kolva, the Usa), the Bolshezemelskaya and Kaninskaya tundra, the Kola Peninsula, the basin of the Ob river were inhabited. The Izvatas founded their settlements everywhere.