SIBERIA

"When the muffled atmosphere surrounding us had completely absorbed the noise of the helicopter flying away, we found ourselves in the gorgeous silence of the snow, in the middle of nowhere. A sudden feeling of strength and plenitude overtook us. But this instant of wonder quickly gave way to pure astonishment. How do they manage to live here?

In the following mornings, by the time that we had extracted ourselves from the layer of frost that covered our Himalaya sleeping bags, by the time that we had melted snow to make coffee, the Dolgan family had already captured a few reindeer by lasso, harnessed them, and set about their usual routine. One of them would go off fishing, another, hunting."

Extract from Zoé Zoé, Femmes du mondes, 2007, Éditions Gallimard