2.3.3 Sami cultures
Description
This article is from the Nordic countries FAQ, by Antti Lahelma and Johan Olofsson, with numerous contributions by others.
2.3.3 Sami cultures
Sami people have always settled thinly in a large area, making their
living mostly hunting and fishing, families having large hunting areas
around them. Connections to other people were rare although they had a
strong sense of community thinking when it came to dividing
hunting/fishing areas between families, and, of course, the marriages
were made between people in nearby regions. This seems to be the major
reason why there is no one Sami culture and language, but several Sami
cultures and languages. The cultures have been formed both by
different surroundings and living conditions and varying contacts with
other cultures; in Sweden and Norway the Germanic culture, in Finland
the Finnish culture and in Kola peninsula the Russian and Karelian
cultures.
Forest Sami
Sami people living in coniferous forests lived mainly by fishing, but
hunting was also very important. Most of the Finnish and Swedish Sami
people belong to this group. Families formed Lappish villages
('siida') normally by some large river. The size of the siida varied
from just a couple of families up to 20 or 30, totaling some hundred
individuals. Watersheds were natural borders between these villages.
It was also common to have some reindeer for transportation and for
the furs, which were an important material for clothing.
A special group of forest Sami are the Sami north of Lake Inari
because their language differs from the rest of forest Sami - it's the
westernmost dialect of eastern Sami languages.
Fjeld Sami
[ About the word "fjeld": The ice age has shaped the Scandinavian
mountains, especially in Lapland, so that the top of them is round,
and mostly bare. In some Nordic languages there is a special word
for them (fjell/fjdll/ tunturi) to separate them from other
mountains. There is also a rarely used English word "fjeld" for the
same purpose. The word "fjeld" means here a [treeless] mountain in
Lapland. ]
The fjeld Sami are also known as "reindeer Sami" because the reindeer
is by far the most important part of their economy.
They live on the fjelds between Sweden and Norway and on the highlands
north of it tending their herds. This kind of nomad culture is unique
in Europe and as such it has been the subject of a lot of interest. It
has been seen as the most typical form of Sami culture although as
such it's only a few hundred years old. It's not nearly as common as
the half-nomad forest Sami culture. The fjeld Sami do also some
fishing and willow grouse (am. willow ptarmigan) trapping. The
importance of reindeer in the Sami culture can be seen in the fact
that in Sami languages there are about 400 names for reindeer
according to gender, age, color, shape etc.
One special group are the River Sami living around river Ðeatnu/Tana
and its tributaries. They lived mainly fishing salmon but nowadays
they have some agriculture and domestic animals, and more permanent
settlements than the fjeld Sami.
Sea Sami
The first written remark of the sea Sami living in northern Norway by
the Arctic Sea was made in year 892 by a Norwegian tribal chief Ottar.
The remark described that "up in the north there are people who hunt
in the winter and fish on the sea in the summer". This half-nomad
culture is strongly affected by both Norwegian and Finnish
inhabitants. They live in two different areas. The Norwegians call the
northern people "sjøfinner" and the southern "bufinner".
Kola Peninsula Sami
The Sami living in the Kola peninsula are the original population in
that area. The number of Sami there has remained pretty much the same
throughout the years, slightly below 2000 people. They live mostly
fishing and reindeering.
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