The long walk | Norway
The meeting between reindeer and humans - and music
They came to Europe at the same time, both of them. The reindeer migrate across the continent along the Beringland Bridge over the Ural Mountains in the north. Man came from Africa in the south. Reindeer from ice and snow, man from sun and heat. The two families would then watch each other for half a million years. Where does the road go next, for humans and for the reindeer?
Wandering reindeer have kept three different human species alive through demanding climate changes. A dozen times, cold and glaciers have squeezed humans together in small ice age pockets, and each time, reindeer became the raw material they could live on and survive on in the light of blazing fires.
Now the climate is changing in ways that mean loss of nature is at risk of extinction for the reindeer. For the first time, it is the reindeer that need help from humans.
"Folk Music and Stories" is an interdisciplinary program collaboration with Rom for ord that is based on the book "The Long Journey - Reindeer and People through 500,000 Years" by Reidar Andersen and Olav Strand. Music: Benedicte Maurseth. Illustrations: Benoit Clarys.
Benedicte Maurseth - Hardanger fiddle