Sami

Sami
The Sami flag
Total population	80,000-100,000
Regions with significant populations	Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia
Language	Sami languages, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Russian
Religion	Lutheranism, Orthodoxy, Shamanism

The Sami people (also Sámi, Saami, Lapps and Laplanders) are the indigenous people of Sápmi, which encompasses parts of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. The Sami are one of the largest indigenous groups in Europe, and their ancestral lands span an area the size of Sweden in the Nordic countries. Their languages are the Sami languages, which are classified as Finno-Ugric.

Traditional Sami occupations are hunting, fishing, farming, and reindeer herding, though only a minority of today's Sami make a living from these activities alone, and virtually none live in a natural economy nor have a nomadic lifestyle. The population is estimated to be between 50,000 to 100,000, although it is difficult to establish an accurate number. Roughly half of all Sami live in Norway, a significant number live in Sweden and Finland, and Russia has a smaller number located in the far north. The Sami in Russia were forced by the Soviet authorities into one collective called Lovozero/Lujávri, in the central part of the Kola peninsula.

Map of the Sami people.

Two men in traditional Sami costumes outside of Rovaniemi, Finland.

Traditionally, the Sami had a variety of livelihoods; fishing on the coast and in the inland, trapping animals for fur, sheep herding, etc. The best known livelihood is reindeer herding, but only a small percentage of the Sami have been mainly reindeer herders over the last centuries, and only since the 16th century. Today, many Sami lead modern lives in the cities inside and outside the traditional Sami area, with modern jobs. Some 10% still practise reindeer herding, which is for traditional and cultural reasons allowed to Sami people only in some parts of Nordic countries.

Lapp or Sami?

The Sami were previously known in other languages as Lap(p). This name was originally used in Sweden and Finland, and from there the word was exported to all major European languages (German: Lappen, French: lapons, Spanish: lapones). However, this name has never been used by the Sami themselves. They have always referred to themselves as "Sámid" ("the Samis") or "Sápmelaš" ("of Sami kin"). The word "Sámi" is conjugated into various grammatical forms. One meaning of the term "Lapp" is "a patch of cloth for mending" and suggests that the Sami wear patched clothes out of poverty, making "Lapp" a derogatory and offensive term, particularly when the Sami have historically had to deal with stereotyped ideas of being vagabonds, drunks, and lazy. Sami institutions, notably the parliaments, the radio and TV stations, theatres etc. all use the term Sami, as do academic references.

History

A Sami family around 1900

The Sami peoples have inhabited the northern regions of Scandinavia for thousands of years. Archaelogical evidence suggests that people along the southern shores of Lake Ääninen and around Lake Ladoga in Russia reached the River Utsjoki, located by the modern border between Russia and Norway, as early as 8100 B.C.E. After the Ice Age, West European people also came into Scandinavia . This two-part migration matches up with ancient Sami myths, which tell of long migrations from the north and the south. Historically, the Sami inhabited a larger area of Scandinavia and Karelia, but Finnish and Scandinavian settlers drove them progressively more north. Finnish tribes even fought wars with one another and with Scandic tribes for the right to tax the Sami.

Historically, there have been theories about the supposed Asian origin of the Sami. In fact, in the early 19th century, the now-discredited theory of Ural-Altaic languages was believed even by the Finns, who arranged many ethnographic expeditions to Mongolia to find this theoretical link between the Asian and Finnic peoples. Stereotyped physical features, phrenology and other pseudosciences were used to "prove" the supposed Asian origin of the Sami. However, the theory did not hold water: no common vocabulary was established, nor did genetic studies show any significant links. DNA studies show that Asian genetic influence is no higher than the European average. Three specific markers are found in 1/3 of the Sami; markers that have only elsewhere been found in one Finnish and five Karelian samples. This implies that there was a long period of time during which the Sami were likely isolated from the rest of the world's population; possibly during the last Ice Age.

In A New Division of Earth, François Bernier (1612-1688), one of the first in a long line of racial scientists, defined the Sami to be a "species" with stunted and compact bodies, big feet, broad shoulders, and bear-looking, elongated faces. He called them very ugly, and considered them to be closer to animals than other human species.

Lapponia (1673), written by the rhetorician Johannes Schefferus, is the oldest source of detailed information on Sami culture. It was written due to "ill-natured" foreign propaganda (in particular from Germany) claiming that Sweden had won victories on the battlefield by means of 'Sami magic'. In attempts to correct the picture of Sami culture amongst the Europeans, Magnus de la Gardie started an early 'ethnological' research project to document Sami groups, conducted by Schefferus. The book was published in late 1673 and quickly translated to French, German, English, and other languages (though not to Swedish until 1956). However, an adapted and abridged version was quickly published in the Netherlands and Germany, where chapters on their difficult living conditions, topography, and the environment had been replaced by made-up stories of magic, sorcery, drums and heathenry. But there was also criticism against the ethnography, claiming Sami to be more warlike in character, rather than the image Schefferus presented.

Up to the Middle Ages, the Sami were mainly fishermen and trappers, usually in combination, leading a nomadic lifestyle dictated by the migrations of the reindeer. During the Middle Ages, Sami were forced to make the transition to a more pastoral economy, partly because of drastically increased taxes to the government, an increase in the Sami population, and a decrease in the number of reindeer. This decrease in reindeer is attributed to the emergence of firearms. As a result, the Sami were forced to become nomadic reindeer herders instead of keeping small herds of tamed reindeer.

The Sami crossed the borders freely until 1826, when the Norwegian/Finnish/Russian border was closed. Sami were still free to cross the border between Sweden and Norway according to inherited rights laid down in the Lapp Codicil of 1751 until 1940, when the border was closed due to Germany's occupation of Norway. After WWII, they were not allowed to return. Their summer pasturages are today used by Sami originating in Kautokeino.

For long periods of time, the Sami lifestyle reigned supreme in the north because of its unique adaptation to the Arctic environment, enabling Sami culture to resist cultural influences from the South. Indeed, throughout the 18th c., as Norwegians of Northern Norway suffered from low fish prices and consequent depopulation, the Sami cultural element was strengthened, since the Sami were independent of supplies from Southern Norway.

However, in the 19th century Norwegian authorities put the Sami culture under pressure in order to make the Norwegian language and culture universal. A strong economical development of the north also took place, giving Norwegian culture and language status. On the Swedish and Finnish side, the authorities were much less militant in their efforts, however, a strong economical development of the north lead to a weakening of status and economy for the Sami.

The strongest pressure took place from around 1900 to 1940, when Norway invested considerable money and effort to wipe out Sami culture. Notably, anyone who wanted to buy or lease state lands for agriculture had to prove knowledge of the Norwegian language. This also ultimately caused the dislocation in the 1920s, that strengthed the gap between local Sami groups, something still present today, and sometimes bears the character of an internal Sami ethnic conflict. Another factor was the heavy war destructions in Northern Finland and Northern Norway in 1944-45, which destroyed all existing houses and visible traces of Sami culture. After World War II, the pressure was relaxed somewhat.

The construction of the hydro-electric power station in Alta in 1979 brought Sami rights onto the political agenda, as it threatened to turn a large chunk of Sami land into a resevoir. In August of 1986, the national anthem (Sámi soga lávlla) and flag (Sami flag) of the Sami people was created. In 1989, the first Sami parliament in Norway was elected. In 2005, the Finnmark Law was passed in the Norwegian parliament. This law gives the Sami parliament and the Finnmark Provincial council a joint responsibility of administering the land areas previously considered state property. These areas, 98% of the provincial area, that have always been used primarily by the Sami, now belong officially to the people of the province, Sami or Norwegian, and not the Norwegian state.

Sami inhabitants have in Sweden, Norway and Finland (but not Russia) a vote, in addition to the regular elections in each country, to elect representatives to their special designed authority, the Sami Parliament (SP). The SP is a democratically elected parliament and acts as a governmental authority. An individual has a Sami vote if any of the following applies:

• s/he considers himself/herself to be culturally or ethnically Sami and
  • s/he speaks a Sami language, or
  • s/he had or has a parent, or grandparent, that speaks or spoke a Sami language

For the Swedish, the term 'Sami' has been defined by the government to only include those herding reindeers, contrary to how the Sami themselves wanted to be defined.

The main organisations for Sami representation are the "siidas". They cover northern and middle Sweden.

Religion

Copper carving (1767) by O.H. von Lode showing a sami shaman with his drum (meavrresgárri)

The term Sami religion is usually referring to the traditional, shamanistic religion, practiced until approximately the 18th century, with a major movement to convert people to Christianity was made by Catholic missionaries.

Traditional Sami religious beliefs place a great deal of importance on the shaman, or "noaidis". The noaidis was believed to be able to prophesy and predict future success and welfare, with the use of a drum decorated with paintings, and served as the link between the people and the gods. Noaiddit (shamans) along the coast were sometimes consulted by the Vikings as well, and stories of their abilities and use of sorcery were common. The noaidis also kept and passed on myths and rites.

Gods in the Sami religion were centered around Beaivi, the Sun. The god Dearpmis ruled thunder, lightning, wind, and weather, as well as the people's health and welfare. Leaibolmmái, the Alder Tree Man, was the god of hunting and animals; the alder tree was a sacred tree that provided paint for the noaidis' drum, medicine, and a means of preparing leather. Prayers and sacrifices were made to Leaibolmmái in morning and evening.

Christianity was being spread by Catholic missionaries as early as the 13th century, but did not become a powerful influence until the 18th century. Increased pressure came after the Lutheran reformation, and rune drums were taken from the Sami, then burned or sent to museums abroad. During this period, many Sami practised their traditional religion in private, while turning up in church on Sunday. Since the Sami were thought to possess powers of witchcraft, they were often accused of sorcery during the 17th century.

In Norway, a major effort to convert the Sami was made around 1720, when the "Apostle of the Sami" - Thomas von Westen, burned drums and converted people by force. The Swedish Sami vicar, Lars Levi Læstadius initiated a puritan, Lutheran movement among the Sami around 1840. This movement is still very dominant in Sami speaking areas. Sami on the Kola peninsula and in North-Eastern Finland, as well as a handful in Norway, are members of the Orthodox Church. The old religion is long gone, but elements of it have been revived by Neo-paganist groups, and aspects such as a reverence for nature remain common in Sami thought.

Language

The Sami language is divided into nine dialects, of which several have their own written languages (orthography). Southern Sami cannot understand Northern Sami. Most dialects are spoken in several countries, because linguistic borders do not correspond to national borders. The Sami language group is part of the Finno-Ugric family, related to Finnish, Estonian, and (distantly) Hungarian but not to Norwegian and kin. Due to prolonged contact with the Scandinavians, however, there are a large number of Germanic words in Sami. The majority of the Sami now speak the majority languages of the countries they live in, i.e. Swedish, Russian, Finnish and Norwegian. Efforts are being made to further the use of Sami language among Sami and persons of Sami origin.

Music

One very interesting Sami tradition is the singing of joik (not to be confused with the call yoicks used in fox hunting). Joiks are traditionally sung a capella, usually sung slowly and deep in the throat with apparent emotional content of sorrow or anger. Joiks can be dedicated to animals and birds in nature, to special people or special occasions, and they can be joyous, sad or melancholic.

Christian missionaries and priests regarded these as "songs of the Devil". In recent years, musical instruments frequently accompany joiks. The Sami singer Mari Boine introduced joiks to the world audience when she blended it with rhythmic music such as jazz and rock on several award-winning albums in the '80s and '90s. This has been heavily sampled in recent times by the likes of hip-hop artists Xzibit and Vanilla Ice.

Cultural revival

To make up for past suppression, the authorities of Norway, Sweden and Finland now make an effort to build up Sami cultural institutions and promote Sami culture and language. All recognize February 6 as Sami National Day, which was first recognized in 1993.

• There are daily news bulletins in Sami on national TV in all three countries. Children's programs in Sami are also frequently made. There is also radio in Sami.

• A weekly newspaper in Sami, Min Aigi is published, along with a few magazines.

• There is a Sami theatre in Kautokeino on the Norwegian side, as well as in Kiruna on the Swedish side. Both tour the entire Sami area with drama written by Sami authors or international translations.

• A number of novels and poetry collections are published every year in Sami, occasionally also in other dialects than Northern Sami.

• Education with Sami as the first language is available in all three countries, also outside the Sami area.

• Sàmi Allaskuvla, a Sami college, is located in Kautokeino. Sami language is studied in several universities in all countries, most notably the University of Tromsø, which considers Sami a mother tongue, not a foreign language.

• Numerous festivals throughout the Sami area celebrate different aspects of the Sami culture. The best known on the Norwegian side is Riddu Riddu, a music festival in Olmmaivaggi/Manndalen. Among the most festive are the easter festivals taking place in Kautokeino and Karasjok prior to the springtime migration to the coast. These festivals combine traditional culture with modern phenomena such as snowmobile races.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Sami people

• National Minorities of Finland, The Sámi, from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland
• The Sami of Norway from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Norway
• Sámi Radio from the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation

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