How Siberian Reindeer Ended Up in Canada’s Northwest Territories — You Can’t Write This Stuff

Kylik Kisoun Taylor of Tundra North Tours drives Siberian reindeer on the Mackenzie Delta of Canada’s Northwest Territories.

Kylik Kisoun Taylor drives a vast herd of 3,000 reindeer, moving slowly, like a living river, across the stark, snowy tundra towards their spring calving grounds. Later, there’s a feast cooked by Inuvik elders and a chance to learn about traditional life.

For over a decade, Kylik of Tundra North Tours has been sharing his spectacular north with visitors. And at the same time, reconnecting himself with the old ways of Inuvialuit/Gwich’in from Inuvik. Kylik moved from Ontario at 16, meeting his grandparents for the first time. He fell in love with their traditional lifestyle. It felt like home. Today, Kylik is passionate about sharing and learning the insights about his northern heritage. And as he explains, sharing these old ways with the world, makes it possible for him and his family to live it.

And the story of these Siberian reindeer, and how they got here — that’s something you can’t make up. It’s an epic journey about 80 years ago that reflects the wild complicated truth of where colonialism meets indigenous people. Lonely Planet’s American Lead Editor Alexander Howard has the story.

You gotta hear this…