October 26, 2025 • 14 mins
Journey deep into the frozen forests of northern Mongolia, where fewer than 300 people still live in harmony with their reindeer. In this episode of Stories of Survival, host Phillip Grager explores the world of the Tsaatan (Dukha): one of the last reindeer-herding peoples on Earth. Discover their migration from Siberia, their sacred bond with the reindeer, and the spiritual connection they share with the taiga. Through stories of resilience, humor, and tradition, we uncover how the Tsaatan’s way of life teaches us about balance, respect for nature, and what it truly means to live in connection with the world around us.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Welcome back to Stories of Survival, the podcast where we journey to the edges of the world to hear, preserve, and celebrate cultures whose voices are at risk of vanishing.
For those tuning in for the first time, I'm Philip Grager.
I travel research and bring you the stories of indigenous peoples whose ways of life are endangered, but whose wisdom is timeless.
(00:26):
In past episodes, we walked the planes of the Messai in Kenya.
Then we sailed with the Baja, the Sea Nomads of Southeast Asia.
But today, today we journey far north to the frozen forests of Mongolia.
Picture this endless pines snow that clings to the mountains most of the year, and herds of reindeer moving silently through the mist here.
(00:50):
Fewer than 300 people still live as their ancestors did.
Herding riding and relying entirely on their reindeer for survival.
They are the Satan, or as they like to call themselves the dha, one of the world's last reindeer herding peoples.
Stay with me because what you're about to hear isn't just about survival in the cold.
(01:13):
.264743415It's about a way of life that may hold lessons for all of us before we dive into their traditions and beliefs. 13 00:01:20,255.264743415 --> 00:01:21,935.264743415 Let's start with the heart of it. 14 00:01:22,355.264743415 --> 00:01:29,405.264743415 Who are the Satan people? The name Satan literally comes from the Mongolian word, sat, meaning reindeer. 15 00:01:29,435.264743415 --> 00:01:32,480.264743415 So when you hear it, Satan, you're really hearing the reindeer people. 16 00:01:33,245.264743415 --> 00:01:37,475.264743415 But if you were to ask them what they call themselves, they wouldn't say Satan at all. 17 00:01:37,685.264743415 --> 00:01:43,805.26474342 They proudly say DKA pronounced dka, and that name holds power. 18 00:01:44,75.26474342 --> 00:01:46,355.26474342 It's not just a label, it's an identity. 19 00:01:46,685.26474342 --> 00:01:52,715.26474342 It connects them to a lineage that stretches across centuries of migration, resilience and harmony with nature. 20 00:01:53,870.26474342 --> 00:02:05,480.26474342 The are one of the smallest ethnic groups in Mongolia, fewer than 300 people today, and they live in the Cyan Mountains, tucked deep in the forest near the Russian border. 21 00:02:05,540.26474342 --> 00:02:11,780.26474342 This region is known as the Taiga, a Subar forest where the winters last eight months. 22 00:02:12,80.26474342 --> 00:02:16,460.26474342 The snow can reach your knees and the nearest town can be days away on reindeer back. 23 00:02:18,860.26474342 --> 00:02:23,420.26474342 Historically, the duka traced the roots to the Tuvan people of Siberia. 24 00:02:24,80.26474342 --> 00:02:28,220.26474342 Centuries ago, they lived in what's now the Republic of Duan part of Russia. 25 00:02:28,400.26474342 --> 00:02:39,260.26474342 But during the 1920s and thirties, political turmoil, especially after Mongolia's northern border tightened, during the Soviet Times, it pushed many DKA families southward. 26 00:02:39,560.26474342 --> 00:02:44,795.26474342 They crossed into Mongolia with our herds of reindeer seeking safety and the freedom to keep their way of life. 27 00:02:46,25.26474342 --> 00:02:51,725.26474342 So that Satan story is really one of migration, adaptation and survival. 28 00:02:52,595.26474342 --> 00:03:03,875.26474342 They carry their beliefs, language, and hurting traditions across borders and into a new land and somehow against all odds kept alive their language. 29 00:03:04,145.26474342 --> 00:03:08,945.26474342 Han is a dialect of Tuvan, part of the Turkic language family. 30 00:03:10,130.26474342 --> 00:03:13,700.26474342 It's rich musical and full of phrases tied to nature. 31 00:03:14,60.26474342 --> 00:03:18,110.26474342 Every mountain, every river, and every herd has its own name and story. 32 00:03:18,860.26474342 --> 00:03:26,389.28974342 When they talk about reindeer, they don't just say it, they say he or she, because to them reindeer aren't animals, they're family. 33 00:03:27,709.28974342 --> 00:03:34,969.28974342 Let's talk about that bond for a moment because it's one of the most extraordinary relationships between humans and animals anywhere on earth. 34 00:03:36,199.28974342 --> 00:03:39,139.28974342 The Satan ride the reindeer instead of horses. 35 00:03:39,859.28974342 --> 00:03:46,579.28974342 They milk them to make yogurt, and sweetie si a salty milk tea that keeps them warm. 36 00:03:46,579.28974342 --> 00:03:52,279.28974342 During bitter winters, their hides are turned into coats, boots, and blankets. 37 00:03:52,339.28974342 --> 00:03:57,859.28974342 Their antlers are carved into tools, handles, or ornaments, but it's never done carelessly. 38 00:03:58,459.28974342 --> 00:04:00,469.28974342 They take only what's offered. 39 00:04:00,859.28974342 --> 00:04:02,29.28974342 Shed antlers. 40 00:04:02,389.28974342 --> 00:04:03,649.28974342 Milk when it doesn't harm. 41 00:04:03,649.28974342 --> 00:04:07,159.28974342 The calf hides only from animals that have passed. 42 00:04:07,969.28974342 --> 00:04:11,419.28974342 Every part of the reindeer is honored, used, and respected. 43 00:04:13,399.28974342 --> 00:04:16,279.28974342 It's a relationship built on mutual survival. 44 00:04:16,849.28974342 --> 00:04:21,289.28974342 The reindeer carried its Satan through deep snow and frozen rivers. 45 00:04:21,289.28974342 --> 00:04:26,359.28974342 In return that Satan protect them from wolves and keep them fed in the harsh winter. 46 00:04:27,679.28974342 --> 00:04:29,449.28974342 These animals are sacred. 47 00:04:29,689.28974342 --> 00:04:36,619.28974342 They believe reindeer carry not just people, but spirits, the souls of ancestors and protectors of the forest. 48 00:04:37,129.28974342 --> 00:04:42,979.28974342 When you enter at Satan Camp called an ORT or du, the first thing you notice is the shape. 49 00:04:43,129.28974342 --> 00:04:48,439.28974342 Tall, very conical, almost like a teepee, and it's built from birch poles and it's covered in hides. 50 00:04:48,799.28974342 --> 00:04:54,799.28974342 The Orlu is genius in its simplicity, easy to build and easy to take down, and warm enough to survive. 51 00:04:54,799.28974342 --> 00:05:03,139.28974342 Minus 40 degree nights that sat down, move their camps several times a year, following their herds to fresh pastures. 52 00:05:03,769.28974342 --> 00:05:08,944.28974342 Everything they own, tents, tools, cookware, even their spiritual shrines can be packed onto reindeer backs. 53 00:05:09,634.28974342 --> 00:05:14,704.28974342 In this world, mobility equals survival, but it's also a cultural preservation. 54 00:05:14,914.28974342 --> 00:05:22,384.28974342 Every migration is a lesson for the children, whether it's how to read the snow, how to sense danger in the wind, or how to know when it's time to move. 55 00:05:22,744.28974342 --> 00:05:24,274.28974342 These aren't just survival skills. 56 00:05:24,394.28974342 --> 00:05:28,984.28974342 They're acts of memory passed down orally, generation to generation. 57 00:05:30,874.28974342 --> 00:05:37,744.28974342 So who are the Satan? They're the last true reindeer herders of Mongolia. 58 00:05:37,894.28974342 --> 00:05:43,324.28974342 They're descendants of ancient Siberian nomads who found belonging in movement. 59 00:05:44,74.28974342 --> 00:05:50,434.28974342 They are people who built an entire culture around empathy for animals, for nature, and for each other. 60 00:05:51,434.28974342 --> 00:06:02,504.28974342 Their story isn't about isolation, it's about connection to their herds, to their land, and to a way of life that's as fragile as it is extraordinary. 61 00:06:02,804.28974342 --> 00:06:15,14.28974342 And as we continue our journey, you'll see how their language, spirituality, and traditions weave together to form one of the world's most intimate relationships between humans and the wild. 62 00:06:16,124.28974342 --> 00:06:22,484.28974342 Stepping inside an DU home, the air is warm thick with the smell of smoke and pine. 63 00:06:22,664.28974342 --> 00:06:33,464.28974342 A small fire crackles at the center, sending ribbons of smoke curling through a hole in the roof around it felt rugs lined the ground worn in smooth from years of stories. 64 00:06:33,464.28974342 --> 00:06:41,204.28974342 Told Andt shared in one corner a pot of sweet diet sight, that salty milk tea made from reindeer milk. 65 00:06:41,804.28974342 --> 00:06:42,734.28974342 Bubble softly. 66 00:06:43,94.28974342 --> 00:06:45,854.28974342 It's rich, earthy scent fills a tent. 67 00:06:46,64.28974342 --> 00:06:53,474.28974342 Breakfast might be tea, dried cheese curds called a, and maybe a bit of meat from a recent hunt. 68 00:06:53,834.28974342 --> 00:07:02,144.28974342 Simple, sure, but full of energy for a day in the Taiga before the sun fully rises, you'll hear bell's jingling someone. 69 00:07:02,954.28974342 --> 00:07:08,54.28974342 Maybe the father or eldest daughter has already headed out to check on the herd Here. 70 00:07:08,84.28974342 --> 00:07:09,974.28974342 Children grow up on reindeer. 71 00:07:10,4.28974342 --> 00:07:12,884.28974342 Some even learn to ride before they can learn to run steadily. 72 00:07:13,704.28974342 --> 00:07:20,784.28974342 By the time they're seven, they can guide a herd through a snowstorm and read the snow like a map. 73 00:07:21,624.28974342 --> 00:07:24,654.28974342 But let's be clear, life here isn't just survival. 74 00:07:24,834.28974342 --> 00:07:30,864.28974342 It's rhythm and it's balance that Satan don't fight nature, they move with it. 75 00:07:31,554.28974342 --> 00:07:37,674.28974342 They know the language of the forest, how to listen to the creek of trees that warn of an oncoming storm. 76 00:07:38,124.28974342 --> 00:07:40,344.28974342 How to follow the tracks of elk or wve. 77 00:07:40,989.28974342 --> 00:07:43,719.28974342 And how to find the safest frozen river crossing. 78 00:07:44,379.28974342 --> 00:07:48,939.28974342 Every skill is learned by doing, by watching, imitating, asking, and laughing. 79 00:07:49,419.28974342 --> 00:07:56,229.28974342 Kids learn by living not from textbooks, and that system works flawlessly, generation after generation. 80 00:07:57,155.44817172 --> 00:08:01,655.44817172 The forest isn't just scenery, it's family that Satan follow. 81 00:08:01,655.44817172 --> 00:08:07,680.44817172 An animistic, shamanic belief system where every living and non-living thing has a spirit. 82 00:08:08,450.44817172 --> 00:08:13,190.44817172 Rivers, mountains, reindeers, trees all carry energy that must be respected. 83 00:08:13,400.44817172 --> 00:08:26,240.44817172 There's a saying that goes, it means to understand the forest is to understand the divine, and that line captures their worldview perfectly. 84 00:08:27,290.44817172 --> 00:08:31,730.44817172 For the Satan, the natural world isn't just a backdrop, it's a teacher. 85 00:08:32,30.44817172 --> 00:08:34,160.44817172 There's spiritual leaders called Boo. 86 00:08:34,580.44817172 --> 00:08:37,850.44817172 Shamans are the bridge between worlds. 87 00:08:38,60.44817172 --> 00:08:40,850.44817172 The boo bless herds before migrations. 88 00:08:41,0.44817172 --> 00:08:48,140.44817172 Call on ancestral spirits to protect travelers and perform rituals when someone falls ill or when the weather turns dangerous. 89 00:08:48,560.44817172 --> 00:08:51,530.44817172 But don't picture this as a gloomy, ritualistic thing. 90 00:08:51,830.44817172 --> 00:09:01,40.44817172 It's woven into everyday life that Satan might ask for a blessing before setting out on a hunt or whisper thanks to a river before filling a bucket. 91 00:09:01,610.44817172 --> 00:09:03,680.44817172 It's not ceremony for show. 92 00:09:04,295.44817172 --> 00:09:06,425.44817172 It's a gratitude in action. 93 00:09:07,448.84648048 --> 00:09:10,478.84648048 And honestly, the Satan have a great sense of humor about it. 94 00:09:10,478.84648048 --> 00:09:16,988.84648048 All life in the Taiga demands it when your tent freezes solid or your reindeer wanders off in the middle of the night. 95 00:09:17,168.84648048 --> 00:09:21,188.84648048 What else can you do? But laugh? Warm up with tea and try again. 96 00:09:21,548.84648048 --> 00:09:25,388.84648048 But behind that humor is strength because the sata knows something. 97 00:09:25,628.84648048 --> 00:09:27,608.84648048 Modern society often forgets. 98 00:09:27,968.84648048 --> 00:09:30,428.84648048 Happiness doesn't come from comfort. 99 00:09:31,88.84648048 --> 00:09:33,48.84648048 It comes from connection. 100 00:09:33,648.84648048 --> 00:09:37,878.84648048 Connection to your animals, to your family, and to your land. 101 00:09:38,418.84648048 --> 00:09:40,968.84648048 Their days are demanding, but they're also intentional. 102 00:09:40,968.84648048 --> 00:09:45,288.84648048 Every task from mending a saddle to boiling tea is done with care. 103 00:09:45,618.84648048 --> 00:09:52,128.84648048 Every morning, every migration carries meaning, and this is where we can learn from them. 104 00:09:52,428.84648048 --> 00:09:55,998.84648048 Not how to live like that, Satan, but how to live life with purpose. 105 00:09:56,88.84648048 --> 00:10:12,828.84648048 To value what we have to notice the natural world to find humor even when things are hard, because if that Satan can thrive in the Siberian tiger, one of the coldest, most isolated regions on earth, then maybe they figured out something the rest of us are still searching for. 106 00:10:15,528.84648048 --> 00:10:20,928.84648048 But this way of life, the harmony between the Satan, the reindeer, and the Taiga is under threat. 107 00:10:21,943.84648048 --> 00:10:23,778.84648048 The TGA itself is changing. 108 00:10:24,348.84648048 --> 00:10:30,828.84648048 Winters are warmer, unpredictable weather makes migration harder every year, and a phenomenon called Z. 109 00:10:31,308.84648048 --> 00:10:36,198.84648048 When snow and ice form thick layers over the grass can starve entire herds. 110 00:10:37,68.84648048 --> 00:10:44,268.84648048 Imagine watching your reindeer, your lifeline, unable to reach the food buried beneath ice that shouldn't even be there in the first place. 111 00:10:45,228.84648048 --> 00:10:50,328.84648048 Summers, ones short and mild are now bringing wildfires that tear through grazing lands. 112 00:10:51,453.84648048 --> 00:11:00,843.84648048 The same forest, that shelter that Satan for centuries are now burning and there is the pull from the modern world as well. 113 00:11:00,903.84648048 --> 00:11:05,373.84648048 Many young Satan are leaving the Taiga for cities like moron or Lan batar. 114 00:11:06,93.84648048 --> 00:11:15,633.84648048 Some go to school, others find work, and while education opens new doors, it also closes others in cities they're expected to speak. 115 00:11:15,633.84648048 --> 00:11:16,743.84648048 Mongolian, not Duan. 116 00:11:17,868.84648048 --> 00:11:20,238.84648048 They dress differently, live differently soon. 117 00:11:20,238.84648048 --> 00:11:31,158.84648048 The songs of the reindeer herders, the Chance of the Boo Shamans, the words for the wind and snow that exist only in all start to fade. 118 00:11:32,328.84648048 --> 00:11:40,428.84648048 Each young person who leaves take a piece of tradition with them and sometimes, most times, that piece doesn't return. 119 00:11:42,633.84648048 --> 00:11:45,993.84648048 There are now fewer than 100 Satan families left in the world. 120 00:11:46,203.84648048 --> 00:11:56,478.84648048 Every elder who passes takes with them irreplaceable knowledge, how to treat a sick reindeer with wild herbs, how to predict the snow by watching the clouds, how to greet the spirits before a migration. 121 00:11:57,828.84648048 --> 00:12:06,228.84648048 This isn't just the loss of a community, it's the loss of a worldview, a language, a rhythm, a way of seeing the earth as living and sacred. 122 00:12:06,228.84648048 --> 00:12:08,148.84648048 And that's why telling their story matters. 123 00:12:08,148.84648048 --> 00:12:12,888.84648048 Because un recognition leads to silence and silence. 124 00:12:14,148.84648048 --> 00:12:16,98.84648048 Silence leads to extinction. 125 00:12:16,848.84648048 --> 00:12:17,688.84648048 But there's still time. 126 00:12:17,688.84648048 --> 00:12:23,663.84648048 There's still hope because as long as people listen, as long as we remember that Satan are not forgotten. 127 00:12:25,968.84648048 --> 00:12:32,598.84648048 That Satan aren't disappearing quietly, they've partnered with NGOs to protect their herds and pass down ancestral knowledge. 128 00:12:32,838.84648048 --> 00:12:38,628.84648048 Some families welcome visitors into the TGA guiding reindeer treks through the Misty large forests. 129 00:12:39,258.84648048 --> 00:12:45,768.84648048 Others carve and be jewelry from shed antlers selling them to support their families and to keep their traditions alive. 130 00:12:46,668.84648048 --> 00:12:50,898.84648048 It's not about freezing their culture in time, it's about carrying it forward. 131 00:12:51,588.84648048 --> 00:12:52,968.84648048 And here's where you come in. 132 00:12:53,118.84648048 --> 00:13:00,798.84648048 By supporting this podcast, you help us tell and share their stories with the world because survival grows stronger when it's shared. 133 00:13:02,298.84648048 --> 00:13:11,508.84648048 Now what can the Satan teach us? They can teach us many things, some being sustainability, which is where we let nature guide our decisions. 134 00:13:11,898.84648048 --> 00:13:16,218.84648048 They can teach us respect for animals, to treat them as partners, not property. 135 00:13:17,463.84648048 --> 00:13:27,633.84648048 They can teach us about resilience, surviving in the harshest climates without destroying your home, adapt, without harming and spiritual ecology. 136 00:13:27,873.84648048 --> 00:13:32,913.84648048 Seeing the forest, rivers, and animals as kin, not as resources to exploit. 137 00:13:33,933.84648048 --> 00:13:37,653.84648048 Let the phrases in this episode carry a piece of Satan life with you. 138 00:13:39,738.84648048 --> 00:13:43,968.84648048 If you enjoy today's journey, make sure to follow, subscribe, and share this podcast with others. 139 00:13:44,148.84648048 --> 00:13:54,888.84648048 And if you want to help us meet the SATs on face-to-face recording their songs, stories, and survival skills, you can support us through interacting with the podcast and following our Instagram advocates of Heritage. 140 00:13:55,368.84648048 --> 00:14:04,728.84648048 Every contribution helps us preserve voices that the world cannot afford to lose, that Satan may be small in numbers, but their voice is mighty. 141 00:14:06,288.84648048 --> 00:14:08,598.84648048 Thank you for traveling with me into the Taiga today. 142 00:14:08,808.84648048 --> 00:14:11,478.84648048 I'm Phillip, and this has been Stories of Survival. 143 00:14:11,598.84648048 --> 00:14:18,888.84648048 Stay tuned because our next episode will bring another culture, another language, and yet another survival story worth telling.
Welcome back to Stories of Survival, the podcast where we journey to the edges of the world to hear, preserve, and celebrate cultures whose voices are at risk of vanishing.
For those tuning in for the first time, I'm Philip Grager.
I travel research and bring you the stories of indigenous peoples whose ways of life are endangered, but whose wisdom is timeless.
(00:26):
In past episodes, we walked the planes of the Messai in Kenya.
Then we sailed with the Baja, the Sea Nomads of Southeast Asia.
But today, today we journey far north to the frozen forests of Mongolia.
Picture this endless pines snow that clings to the mountains most of the year, and herds of reindeer moving silently through the mist here.
(00:50):
Fewer than 300 people still live as their ancestors did.
Herding riding and relying entirely on their reindeer for survival.
They are the Satan, or as they like to call themselves the dha, one of the world's last reindeer herding peoples.
Stay with me because what you're about to hear isn't just about survival in the cold.
(01:13):
.264743415It's about a way of life that may hold lessons for all of us before we dive into their traditions and beliefs. 13 00:01:20,255.264743415 --> 00:01:21,935.264743415 Let's start with the heart of it. 14 00:01:22,355.264743415 --> 00:01:29,405.264743415 Who are the Satan people? The name Satan literally comes from the Mongolian word, sat, meaning reindeer. 15 00:01:29,435.264743415 --> 00:01:32,480.264743415 So when you hear it, Satan, you're really hearing the reindeer people. 16 00:01:33,245.264743415 --> 00:01:37,475.264743415 But if you were to ask them what they call themselves, they wouldn't say Satan at all. 17 00:01:37,685.264743415 --> 00:01:43,805.26474342 They proudly say DKA pronounced dka, and that name holds power. 18 00:01:44,75.26474342 --> 00:01:46,355.26474342 It's not just a label, it's an identity. 19 00:01:46,685.26474342 --> 00:01:52,715.26474342 It connects them to a lineage that stretches across centuries of migration, resilience and harmony with nature. 20 00:01:53,870.26474342 --> 00:02:05,480.26474342 The are one of the smallest ethnic groups in Mongolia, fewer than 300 people today, and they live in the Cyan Mountains, tucked deep in the forest near the Russian border. 21 00:02:05,540.26474342 --> 00:02:11,780.26474342 This region is known as the Taiga, a Subar forest where the winters last eight months. 22 00:02:12,80.26474342 --> 00:02:16,460.26474342 The snow can reach your knees and the nearest town can be days away on reindeer back. 23 00:02:18,860.26474342 --> 00:02:23,420.26474342 Historically, the duka traced the roots to the Tuvan people of Siberia. 24 00:02:24,80.26474342 --> 00:02:28,220.26474342 Centuries ago, they lived in what's now the Republic of Duan part of Russia. 25 00:02:28,400.26474342 --> 00:02:39,260.26474342 But during the 1920s and thirties, political turmoil, especially after Mongolia's northern border tightened, during the Soviet Times, it pushed many DKA families southward. 26 00:02:39,560.26474342 --> 00:02:44,795.26474342 They crossed into Mongolia with our herds of reindeer seeking safety and the freedom to keep their way of life. 27 00:02:46,25.26474342 --> 00:02:51,725.26474342 So that Satan story is really one of migration, adaptation and survival. 28 00:02:52,595.26474342 --> 00:03:03,875.26474342 They carry their beliefs, language, and hurting traditions across borders and into a new land and somehow against all odds kept alive their language. 29 00:03:04,145.26474342 --> 00:03:08,945.26474342 Han is a dialect of Tuvan, part of the Turkic language family. 30 00:03:10,130.26474342 --> 00:03:13,700.26474342 It's rich musical and full of phrases tied to nature. 31 00:03:14,60.26474342 --> 00:03:18,110.26474342 Every mountain, every river, and every herd has its own name and story. 32 00:03:18,860.26474342 --> 00:03:26,389.28974342 When they talk about reindeer, they don't just say it, they say he or she, because to them reindeer aren't animals, they're family. 33 00:03:27,709.28974342 --> 00:03:34,969.28974342 Let's talk about that bond for a moment because it's one of the most extraordinary relationships between humans and animals anywhere on earth. 34 00:03:36,199.28974342 --> 00:03:39,139.28974342 The Satan ride the reindeer instead of horses. 35 00:03:39,859.28974342 --> 00:03:46,579.28974342 They milk them to make yogurt, and sweetie si a salty milk tea that keeps them warm. 36 00:03:46,579.28974342 --> 00:03:52,279.28974342 During bitter winters, their hides are turned into coats, boots, and blankets. 37 00:03:52,339.28974342 --> 00:03:57,859.28974342 Their antlers are carved into tools, handles, or ornaments, but it's never done carelessly. 38 00:03:58,459.28974342 --> 00:04:00,469.28974342 They take only what's offered. 39 00:04:00,859.28974342 --> 00:04:02,29.28974342 Shed antlers. 40 00:04:02,389.28974342 --> 00:04:03,649.28974342 Milk when it doesn't harm. 41 00:04:03,649.28974342 --> 00:04:07,159.28974342 The calf hides only from animals that have passed. 42 00:04:07,969.28974342 --> 00:04:11,419.28974342 Every part of the reindeer is honored, used, and respected. 43 00:04:13,399.28974342 --> 00:04:16,279.28974342 It's a relationship built on mutual survival. 44 00:04:16,849.28974342 --> 00:04:21,289.28974342 The reindeer carried its Satan through deep snow and frozen rivers. 45 00:04:21,289.28974342 --> 00:04:26,359.28974342 In return that Satan protect them from wolves and keep them fed in the harsh winter. 46 00:04:27,679.28974342 --> 00:04:29,449.28974342 These animals are sacred. 47 00:04:29,689.28974342 --> 00:04:36,619.28974342 They believe reindeer carry not just people, but spirits, the souls of ancestors and protectors of the forest. 48 00:04:37,129.28974342 --> 00:04:42,979.28974342 When you enter at Satan Camp called an ORT or du, the first thing you notice is the shape. 49 00:04:43,129.28974342 --> 00:04:48,439.28974342 Tall, very conical, almost like a teepee, and it's built from birch poles and it's covered in hides. 50 00:04:48,799.28974342 --> 00:04:54,799.28974342 The Orlu is genius in its simplicity, easy to build and easy to take down, and warm enough to survive. 51 00:04:54,799.28974342 --> 00:05:03,139.28974342 Minus 40 degree nights that sat down, move their camps several times a year, following their herds to fresh pastures. 52 00:05:03,769.28974342 --> 00:05:08,944.28974342 Everything they own, tents, tools, cookware, even their spiritual shrines can be packed onto reindeer backs. 53 00:05:09,634.28974342 --> 00:05:14,704.28974342 In this world, mobility equals survival, but it's also a cultural preservation. 54 00:05:14,914.28974342 --> 00:05:22,384.28974342 Every migration is a lesson for the children, whether it's how to read the snow, how to sense danger in the wind, or how to know when it's time to move. 55 00:05:22,744.28974342 --> 00:05:24,274.28974342 These aren't just survival skills. 56 00:05:24,394.28974342 --> 00:05:28,984.28974342 They're acts of memory passed down orally, generation to generation. 57 00:05:30,874.28974342 --> 00:05:37,744.28974342 So who are the Satan? They're the last true reindeer herders of Mongolia. 58 00:05:37,894.28974342 --> 00:05:43,324.28974342 They're descendants of ancient Siberian nomads who found belonging in movement. 59 00:05:44,74.28974342 --> 00:05:50,434.28974342 They are people who built an entire culture around empathy for animals, for nature, and for each other. 60 00:05:51,434.28974342 --> 00:06:02,504.28974342 Their story isn't about isolation, it's about connection to their herds, to their land, and to a way of life that's as fragile as it is extraordinary. 61 00:06:02,804.28974342 --> 00:06:15,14.28974342 And as we continue our journey, you'll see how their language, spirituality, and traditions weave together to form one of the world's most intimate relationships between humans and the wild. 62 00:06:16,124.28974342 --> 00:06:22,484.28974342 Stepping inside an DU home, the air is warm thick with the smell of smoke and pine. 63 00:06:22,664.28974342 --> 00:06:33,464.28974342 A small fire crackles at the center, sending ribbons of smoke curling through a hole in the roof around it felt rugs lined the ground worn in smooth from years of stories. 64 00:06:33,464.28974342 --> 00:06:41,204.28974342 Told Andt shared in one corner a pot of sweet diet sight, that salty milk tea made from reindeer milk. 65 00:06:41,804.28974342 --> 00:06:42,734.28974342 Bubble softly. 66 00:06:43,94.28974342 --> 00:06:45,854.28974342 It's rich, earthy scent fills a tent. 67 00:06:46,64.28974342 --> 00:06:53,474.28974342 Breakfast might be tea, dried cheese curds called a, and maybe a bit of meat from a recent hunt. 68 00:06:53,834.28974342 --> 00:07:02,144.28974342 Simple, sure, but full of energy for a day in the Taiga before the sun fully rises, you'll hear bell's jingling someone. 69 00:07:02,954.28974342 --> 00:07:08,54.28974342 Maybe the father or eldest daughter has already headed out to check on the herd Here. 70 00:07:08,84.28974342 --> 00:07:09,974.28974342 Children grow up on reindeer. 71 00:07:10,4.28974342 --> 00:07:12,884.28974342 Some even learn to ride before they can learn to run steadily. 72 00:07:13,704.28974342 --> 00:07:20,784.28974342 By the time they're seven, they can guide a herd through a snowstorm and read the snow like a map. 73 00:07:21,624.28974342 --> 00:07:24,654.28974342 But let's be clear, life here isn't just survival. 74 00:07:24,834.28974342 --> 00:07:30,864.28974342 It's rhythm and it's balance that Satan don't fight nature, they move with it. 75 00:07:31,554.28974342 --> 00:07:37,674.28974342 They know the language of the forest, how to listen to the creek of trees that warn of an oncoming storm. 76 00:07:38,124.28974342 --> 00:07:40,344.28974342 How to follow the tracks of elk or wve. 77 00:07:40,989.28974342 --> 00:07:43,719.28974342 And how to find the safest frozen river crossing. 78 00:07:44,379.28974342 --> 00:07:48,939.28974342 Every skill is learned by doing, by watching, imitating, asking, and laughing. 79 00:07:49,419.28974342 --> 00:07:56,229.28974342 Kids learn by living not from textbooks, and that system works flawlessly, generation after generation. 80 00:07:57,155.44817172 --> 00:08:01,655.44817172 The forest isn't just scenery, it's family that Satan follow. 81 00:08:01,655.44817172 --> 00:08:07,680.44817172 An animistic, shamanic belief system where every living and non-living thing has a spirit. 82 00:08:08,450.44817172 --> 00:08:13,190.44817172 Rivers, mountains, reindeers, trees all carry energy that must be respected. 83 00:08:13,400.44817172 --> 00:08:26,240.44817172 There's a saying that goes, it means to understand the forest is to understand the divine, and that line captures their worldview perfectly. 84 00:08:27,290.44817172 --> 00:08:31,730.44817172 For the Satan, the natural world isn't just a backdrop, it's a teacher. 85 00:08:32,30.44817172 --> 00:08:34,160.44817172 There's spiritual leaders called Boo. 86 00:08:34,580.44817172 --> 00:08:37,850.44817172 Shamans are the bridge between worlds. 87 00:08:38,60.44817172 --> 00:08:40,850.44817172 The boo bless herds before migrations. 88 00:08:41,0.44817172 --> 00:08:48,140.44817172 Call on ancestral spirits to protect travelers and perform rituals when someone falls ill or when the weather turns dangerous. 89 00:08:48,560.44817172 --> 00:08:51,530.44817172 But don't picture this as a gloomy, ritualistic thing. 90 00:08:51,830.44817172 --> 00:09:01,40.44817172 It's woven into everyday life that Satan might ask for a blessing before setting out on a hunt or whisper thanks to a river before filling a bucket. 91 00:09:01,610.44817172 --> 00:09:03,680.44817172 It's not ceremony for show. 92 00:09:04,295.44817172 --> 00:09:06,425.44817172 It's a gratitude in action. 93 00:09:07,448.84648048 --> 00:09:10,478.84648048 And honestly, the Satan have a great sense of humor about it. 94 00:09:10,478.84648048 --> 00:09:16,988.84648048 All life in the Taiga demands it when your tent freezes solid or your reindeer wanders off in the middle of the night. 95 00:09:17,168.84648048 --> 00:09:21,188.84648048 What else can you do? But laugh? Warm up with tea and try again. 96 00:09:21,548.84648048 --> 00:09:25,388.84648048 But behind that humor is strength because the sata knows something. 97 00:09:25,628.84648048 --> 00:09:27,608.84648048 Modern society often forgets. 98 00:09:27,968.84648048 --> 00:09:30,428.84648048 Happiness doesn't come from comfort. 99 00:09:31,88.84648048 --> 00:09:33,48.84648048 It comes from connection. 100 00:09:33,648.84648048 --> 00:09:37,878.84648048 Connection to your animals, to your family, and to your land. 101 00:09:38,418.84648048 --> 00:09:40,968.84648048 Their days are demanding, but they're also intentional. 102 00:09:40,968.84648048 --> 00:09:45,288.84648048 Every task from mending a saddle to boiling tea is done with care. 103 00:09:45,618.84648048 --> 00:09:52,128.84648048 Every morning, every migration carries meaning, and this is where we can learn from them. 104 00:09:52,428.84648048 --> 00:09:55,998.84648048 Not how to live like that, Satan, but how to live life with purpose. 105 00:09:56,88.84648048 --> 00:10:12,828.84648048 To value what we have to notice the natural world to find humor even when things are hard, because if that Satan can thrive in the Siberian tiger, one of the coldest, most isolated regions on earth, then maybe they figured out something the rest of us are still searching for. 106 00:10:15,528.84648048 --> 00:10:20,928.84648048 But this way of life, the harmony between the Satan, the reindeer, and the Taiga is under threat. 107 00:10:21,943.84648048 --> 00:10:23,778.84648048 The TGA itself is changing. 108 00:10:24,348.84648048 --> 00:10:30,828.84648048 Winters are warmer, unpredictable weather makes migration harder every year, and a phenomenon called Z. 109 00:10:31,308.84648048 --> 00:10:36,198.84648048 When snow and ice form thick layers over the grass can starve entire herds. 110 00:10:37,68.84648048 --> 00:10:44,268.84648048 Imagine watching your reindeer, your lifeline, unable to reach the food buried beneath ice that shouldn't even be there in the first place. 111 00:10:45,228.84648048 --> 00:10:50,328.84648048 Summers, ones short and mild are now bringing wildfires that tear through grazing lands. 112 00:10:51,453.84648048 --> 00:11:00,843.84648048 The same forest, that shelter that Satan for centuries are now burning and there is the pull from the modern world as well. 113 00:11:00,903.84648048 --> 00:11:05,373.84648048 Many young Satan are leaving the Taiga for cities like moron or Lan batar. 114 00:11:06,93.84648048 --> 00:11:15,633.84648048 Some go to school, others find work, and while education opens new doors, it also closes others in cities they're expected to speak. 115 00:11:15,633.84648048 --> 00:11:16,743.84648048 Mongolian, not Duan. 116 00:11:17,868.84648048 --> 00:11:20,238.84648048 They dress differently, live differently soon. 117 00:11:20,238.84648048 --> 00:11:31,158.84648048 The songs of the reindeer herders, the Chance of the Boo Shamans, the words for the wind and snow that exist only in all start to fade. 118 00:11:32,328.84648048 --> 00:11:40,428.84648048 Each young person who leaves take a piece of tradition with them and sometimes, most times, that piece doesn't return. 119 00:11:42,633.84648048 --> 00:11:45,993.84648048 There are now fewer than 100 Satan families left in the world. 120 00:11:46,203.84648048 --> 00:11:56,478.84648048 Every elder who passes takes with them irreplaceable knowledge, how to treat a sick reindeer with wild herbs, how to predict the snow by watching the clouds, how to greet the spirits before a migration. 121 00:11:57,828.84648048 --> 00:12:06,228.84648048 This isn't just the loss of a community, it's the loss of a worldview, a language, a rhythm, a way of seeing the earth as living and sacred. 122 00:12:06,228.84648048 --> 00:12:08,148.84648048 And that's why telling their story matters. 123 00:12:08,148.84648048 --> 00:12:12,888.84648048 Because un recognition leads to silence and silence. 124 00:12:14,148.84648048 --> 00:12:16,98.84648048 Silence leads to extinction. 125 00:12:16,848.84648048 --> 00:12:17,688.84648048 But there's still time. 126 00:12:17,688.84648048 --> 00:12:23,663.84648048 There's still hope because as long as people listen, as long as we remember that Satan are not forgotten. 127 00:12:25,968.84648048 --> 00:12:32,598.84648048 That Satan aren't disappearing quietly, they've partnered with NGOs to protect their herds and pass down ancestral knowledge. 128 00:12:32,838.84648048 --> 00:12:38,628.84648048 Some families welcome visitors into the TGA guiding reindeer treks through the Misty large forests. 129 00:12:39,258.84648048 --> 00:12:45,768.84648048 Others carve and be jewelry from shed antlers selling them to support their families and to keep their traditions alive. 130 00:12:46,668.84648048 --> 00:12:50,898.84648048 It's not about freezing their culture in time, it's about carrying it forward. 131 00:12:51,588.84648048 --> 00:12:52,968.84648048 And here's where you come in. 132 00:12:53,118.84648048 --> 00:13:00,798.84648048 By supporting this podcast, you help us tell and share their stories with the world because survival grows stronger when it's shared. 133 00:13:02,298.84648048 --> 00:13:11,508.84648048 Now what can the Satan teach us? They can teach us many things, some being sustainability, which is where we let nature guide our decisions. 134 00:13:11,898.84648048 --> 00:13:16,218.84648048 They can teach us respect for animals, to treat them as partners, not property. 135 00:13:17,463.84648048 --> 00:13:27,633.84648048 They can teach us about resilience, surviving in the harshest climates without destroying your home, adapt, without harming and spiritual ecology. 136 00:13:27,873.84648048 --> 00:13:32,913.84648048 Seeing the forest, rivers, and animals as kin, not as resources to exploit. 137 00:13:33,933.84648048 --> 00:13:37,653.84648048 Let the phrases in this episode carry a piece of Satan life with you. 138 00:13:39,738.84648048 --> 00:13:43,968.84648048 If you enjoy today's journey, make sure to follow, subscribe, and share this podcast with others. 139 00:13:44,148.84648048 --> 00:13:54,888.84648048 And if you want to help us meet the SATs on face-to-face recording their songs, stories, and survival skills, you can support us through interacting with the podcast and following our Instagram advocates of Heritage. 140 00:13:55,368.84648048 --> 00:14:04,728.84648048 Every contribution helps us preserve voices that the world cannot afford to lose, that Satan may be small in numbers, but their voice is mighty. 141 00:14:06,288.84648048 --> 00:14:08,598.84648048 Thank you for traveling with me into the Taiga today. 142 00:14:08,808.84648048 --> 00:14:11,478.84648048 I'm Phillip, and this has been Stories of Survival. 143 00:14:11,598.84648048 --> 00:14:18,888.84648048 Stay tuned because our next episode will bring another culture, another language, and yet another survival story worth telling.
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