A herd of reindeer（[脊椎][畜牧] 驯鹿） trekking（牛拉车） across Lapland, the traditional land of the Sami. The animals know exactly where they're going. They're following ancient migration（迁居） routes to their calving grounds in the valley. But here in the Arctic Circle, temperatures are rising rapidly, and these free-range reindeer are under threat. The biggest challenge is winter. First, there's heavy snow, then rain.

  Then, it ices over, making it impossible for the reindeer to get to the lichen（地衣）, the basis of their natural diet. Reindeer are resourceful. They can dig up food two meters below the surface, as long as they can easily remove the snow. But in the last 20 years, the weather conditions in winter have become unpredictable. One year, there was a ton of snow. The next year, it rained and was warm.

  That was followed by a normal winter. It's different every year. Nature is off-kilter. A herd attempts to cross the ice, but the ice isn't strong enough. An adult reindeer goes under. Lapland's traditional spring floods occur as early as November.

  This bridge is destroyed as a result. A man shovels（铲除） snow in shorts. One day, there's snowfall（降雪） and minus 20-degree temperatures. And the next day, there's a thaw（解冻）. Reindeer cover great distances when they roam（ 漫游）. In Swedish Lapland, part of the region the indigenous（本土的） saw me call "saup me," reindeer often bring traffic to a standstill, even on the European route E10, which passes through Kiruna.

  The area is home to some 300,000 reindeer, owned exclusively（排他地） by saw me. Lars Olejanok is feeding the one-year-olds. Reindeer are hardy（难的） creatures, but if they weren't fed extra moss and lichen（地衣） every day, they'd no longer survive the winters here. The indigenous saw me were struggling even before climate change began complicating their lives. And it seems some neighbors would even be happy if the reindeer died out. Recently, when Lars Olejanok was relocating（ 重新安置） his herd, a car stopped.

  The driver yelled（大叫） at me from about 20 meters away, "If you let your reindeer roam here, we'll shoot them." How aggressive, I thought. His parting shot was, "If I run into one of you reindeer herders alone in the forest, it'll be your turn." Reindeer shootings are common. The owners get a small compensation（补偿）, but these incidents are always unsettling（ 使人不安的）. We are used to racism.

  My father used to take all kinds of abuse（滥用）, especially here close to the big mines in Kiruna and Yellivara. But since the Girias case, the hate's got even worse. It took ten years to resolve the Girias case, which revolved around hunting and fishing rights on this land. The area of approximately 5,000 square kilometers stretches from Kiruna to the Norwegian（挪威的） border. It's almost always blanketed in snow. But for the indigenous Sami people and their reindeer, it's home.

  In the end, the Supreme Court of Sweden（瑞典） ruled in their favor. The Sami flag at the Ofelas, a farm with Icelandic horses that's been around for 25 years. But a closer look reveals that some of these horses have humps（驼峰）, a bit like camels. They're actually elk（麋鹿） that are spending the winter at the farm after harsh（严厉的） weather, and six meters of snow left them unable to find food. The farm owner wouldn't have dreamed of turning them away. This is his land and his responsibility.

  Marty Blinberg fought over the hunting and fishing rights to it for a decade, and welcomed the Supreme Court judgment. We've been living here since the Scandinavian ice retreated（撤退）. We live with and from our reindeer. Archaeologists appeared as witnesses in the trial against the Swedish state about hunting and fishing rights. They said it's hard to find evidence of another people that treat their resources as respectfully and carefully. Marty Blinberg traveled 1,000 kilometers to the court in Stockholm, where the case was argued.

  He was joined by Malin Brenstrom, a Sami reindeer herder and lawyer. The state says it is the formal owner of the land and has the right to issue hunting and fishing licenses. But the Sami say these were our rights before the state came to be. And a lot more was at stake（树桩） than hunting and fishing rights. The case brought into sharp focus Sweden's attitudes towards its indigenous people. The traditional region of the Sami is rich in resources, such as ore（矿石）, timber（木材）, wind power and hydropower（水力发出的电力）.

  So, of course, the state wants to profit. Marie Heidenborg represented the Swedish state in the lawsuit（诉讼）. The way the Sami use the land is hard to reconcile（使和解） with today's demand for wind turbines, mining（采矿业） and also tourism. There is frequent conflict. That's why it's important to clarify the rights issue. For the Sami, it was an historic moment.

  Their rights to their own land were finally acknowledged by the Supreme Court. In the past, these nomadic（游牧的） indigenous（本土的） people have had little to celebrate. They've had to watch their land be claimed by new roads, mines and wind turbines. People are increasingly realizing it can't go on like this. The forests are being chopped down and natural resources plundered（抢劫）. It's not only a problem for the Sami, but for the whole world.

  We're destroying the planet we live on. Humans are strange predators（掠夺者）. They're destroying themselves. The Kallix River is one of just a few free-flowing rivers in Sweden, teeming（大量出现） with salmon. Mati Blinberg doesn't want to see any weirs and dams（水坝） outside his front door, nor wind turbines in the distance. He sees these industrial incursions（袭击） into nature as green colonialism.

  He doesn't understand why they have to be here, so far removed from where the consumers are. Jokmok, in the Arctic region, is the Sami's unofficial capital. Once a year, a line forms at the town's only cash dispenser, on the first weekend of February, when the winter market takes place. The traditional Jokmok market has been held annually for more than four centuries. In the wake of the ruling（裁定）, the mood among the Sami is celebratory（快乐的）. And, Sweden's royal couple has come to visit.

  A gesture of respect for the indigenous people who have lived here for millennia, long before Sweden became a monarchy（君主政体）. Jokmok Elementary School's welcoming committee was visibly nervous to begin with. But King Karl XVI Gustaf, himself a grandfather, soon put the children at ease（容易）. Gather round everyone. Everyone happy? Come on, it's cold.

  Let's go in. From then forth（向前） story hour with the king, Queen Silvia wore a traditional Sami dress, one that she'd been presented with nearly three decades prior, on her first visit to the area.