There are traces of indigenous reindeer economies on this peninsula that stretch back a thousand years, but it is recent history that shapes the current Nenets way of life. In 1961 the Soviets collectivised reindeer herds and created several large state farms, or 'Sovkhoz', and reindeer herding was organised into teams of Soviet workers known as 'Brigady'. Subsequently the term 'Brigade' came to refer to the groups that were formed (animals and people) and each of these brigades had a head-man, or 'Brigadier'. This is how nomadic herding became part of the soviet economy and how the tundra effectively became an open-air meat factory where the nomads were workers of the soviet agricultural system with fixed contracts and salaries. Few regional administrations changed the national state-farm template, but there were some that were sensitive to the unique needs of the herders. For example, in Yamal there was a less forceful approach to settling women and children and they were (and still are) able to migrate with their whole families across the tundra. After the Soviet Union, the private reindeer economy began to thrive and state farms dwindled. Today, 80% of the reindeer are privately owned by the herders with the remaining 20% owned by the current state-farms, most of which today belong to the municipality.