Sami history
Encyclopedia
The Sámi people are the indigenous people of northern Europe inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula
Kola Peninsula
The Kola Peninsula is a peninsula in the far northwest of Russia. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely to the north of the Arctic Circle and is washed by the Barents Sea in the north and the White Sea in the east and southeast...

 of Russia. The traditional Sami life style, dominated by hunting, fishing and trading, was preserved to the Late Middle Ages
Late Middle Ages
The Late Middle Ages was the period of European history generally comprising the 14th to the 16th century . The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern era ....

 when the modern structures of the Nordic countries
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...

 were established.

The Sami have lived in relative co-existence with their neighbors for centuries, but for the last two hundred years - especially during the second half of the 20th century, there have been many dramatic changes in Sami culture, politics, economics and their relations with their neighboring societies. During the late-20th century, modern conflicts broke out over the construction of a hydroelectric dam, the reaction of which created a reawakening and defense of Sami culture in recent years. Of the eleven different historically attested Sami languages
Sami languages
Sami or Saami is a general name for a group of Uralic languages spoken by the Sami people in parts of northern Finland, Norway, Sweden and extreme northwestern Russia, in Northern Europe. Sami is frequently and erroneously believed to be a single language. Several names are used for the Sami...

 or dialects, only nine have survived to the present day with most endangered of disappearing as well.

It is possible that the Sami people's existence were documented by such writers as the Roman historian Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...

. They have on uncertain grounds, but for a very long time, been associated with the 'Fenni
Fenni
The Fenni were an ancient people of northeastern Europe first described by Cornelius Tacitus in Germania in AD 98.- Ancient accounts :The Fenni are first mentioned by Cornelius Tacitus in Germania in 98 A.D...

'. However, the first Nordic sources dates from the introductions of runes and is the Account of the Viking Othere to King Alfred
Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great was King of Wessex from 871 to 899.Alfred is noted for his defence of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of southern England against the Vikings, becoming the only English monarch still to be accorded the epithet "the Great". Alfred was the first King of the West Saxons to style himself...

 of England.

Prehistory

The area traditionally inhabited by the Sami people is known in some Sami languages as Sápmi, and typically includes the northern parts of Fennoscandia
Fennoscandia
Fennoscandia and Fenno-Scandinavia are geographic and geological terms used to describe the Scandinavian Peninsula, the Kola Peninsula, Karelia and Finland...

. Previously the Sami have probably inhabited areas further south in Fennoscandia. A few stone age cultures in the area have been speculated to be associated with the ancestors of the Sami.

Ice age

Following the last ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...

 parts of the Norwegian coast line become free of ice at about 11000 BC which equals in time span the formation of Salpausselkä
Salpausselkä
Salpausselkä is an extensive ridge system left by the ice age in Southern Finland. It is a large terminal moraine formation that formed in front of the Baltic ice lake during the Younger Dryas period about 12.250 - 10.400 years ago....

 I ridge system in Finland. Not until around 6000 BC all of Fennoscandia was free of ice, although the land mass was pressed downwards because of the weight of the ice and partially still under water.

Stone Age

The commonly held view today is that the earliest settlement of the Norwegian coast belongs to one cultural continuum comprising the Fosna culture in southern and central Norway and what used to be called the Komsa
Komsa
The Komsa culture was a Mesolithic culture of hunter-gatherers that existed from around 10000 BC in Northern Norway.The culture is named after the Komsa Mountain in the community of Alta, Finnmark, where the remains of the culture were first discovered...

 culture in the north. The cultural complex derived from the final Palaeolithic Ahrensburg culture
Ahrensburg culture
The Ahrensburg culture was a late Upper Paleolithic culture during the Younger Dryas, the last spell of cold at the end of the Weichsel glaciation. The culture is named after village of Ahrensburg, northeast of Hamburg in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein where wooden arrow shafts and clubs...

 of northwestern Europe, spreading first to southern Norway and then very rapidly following the Norwegian coastline when receding glaciation at the end of the last ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...

 opened up new areas for settlement. The rapidity of this expansion is underlined by the fact that some of the earliest radiocarbon dates are actually from the north.

The term Fosna
Fosna-Hensbacka culture
The Fosna/Hensbacka ,or , were two very similar Late Palaeolithic/early Mesolithic cultures in Scandinavia, and are often subsumed under the name Fosna-Hensbacka culture. This complex includes the Komsa culture that, notwithstanding different types of tools, is also considered to be a part of the...

 is an umbrella term for the oldest settlements along the Norwegian coast, from Hordaland
Hordaland
is a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark and Rogaland. Hordaland is the third largest county after Akershus and Oslo by population. The county administration is located in Bergen...

 to Nordland
Nordland
is a county in Norway in the North Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Nord-Trøndelag in the south, Norrbottens län in Sweden to the east, Västerbottens län to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The county was formerly known as Nordlandene amt. The county administration is...

. The distinction made with the "Komsa" type of stone-tool culture north of the Arctic Circle was rendered obsolete in the 1970s. "Komsa" itself originally referred to the whole North Norwegian Mesolithic, but the term has since been abandoned by Norwegian archaeologists who now divide the northern Mesolithic into three parts, referred to simply as phases 1, 2, and 3.

The oldest Fosna settlements in Eastern Norway are found at Høgnipen in Østfold
Østfold
is a county in southeastern Norway, bordering Akershus and southwestern Sweden , while Buskerud and Vestfold is on the other side of the bay. The seat of the county administration is Sarpsborg, and Fredrikstad is the largest city.Many manufacturing facilities are situated here. Moss and...

.

Recently, finds from Finnish Lapland have led to some re-evaluations concerning the origin of the earliest inhabitants of Lapland. Finds from the Sujala site on the shores of Lake Vetsijärvi in Utsjoki in the province of Lapland include symmetrically shaped tanged points on blades, with symmetrical ventral retouch at the tip. Points of this precise type are absent in Ahrensburgian contexts but very characteristic of the so-called Post-Swiderian cultures known from Central and Northwestern Russia and the East Baltic. The finds also include very fine prismatic blades produced by the punch and pressure techniques, which at this time were also typical of eastern blade cultures. The finds are dated to c. 8300-8200 calBP (slightly later than the earliest Komsa Phase 1 finds) and indicate that the first pioneers of the inland area of northern Lapland came from the south-east. There are indications that the two populations came in contact, but which - if either - of them survived into later times is still an open question.

Origin

The Sami are claimed by some to be the aboriginal Northern Europeans, possibly those who first reentered Europe from ice age refugia after the last glacial maximum. The genetic origin of the Sami is still unknown, though recent genetic research may be providing some clues. Nevertheless, it appears that the Sami represent an old Asian and European population.

Archeological evidence suggests that people along the southern shores of Lake Onega
Lake Onega
Lake Onega is a lake in the north-west European part of Russia, located on the territory of Republic of Karelia, Leningrad Oblast and Vologda Oblast. It belongs to the basin of Baltic Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and is the second largest lake in Europe after Lake Ladoga...

 and around Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world.-Geography:...

 reached the River Utsjoki
Utsjoki
Utsjoki is a municipality in Finland. It is located in Lapland and borders Norway as well as the municipality of Inari. The municipality was founded in 1876. It has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water. The population density is....

 in Northern Finnish Lapland before 8100 BC. However, it is not likely that Sámi languages are so old. According to the comparative linguist Ante Aikio, the Sami proto-language developed in South Finland or in Karelia around 2000–2500 years ago, spreading then to northern Fennoscandia. In any case, the Sami are the earliest of the contemporary ethnic groups represented in the Sami area, and are consequently considered the indigenous population of the area.

The genetic lineage of the Sami is unique, and may reflect an early history of geographic isolation, genetic drift, and genetic bottle-necking. The uniqueness of the Sami gene pool has made it one of the most extensively studied genetic population in the world. The most frequent Sami MtDNA (female) haplotype
Haplotype
A haplotype in genetics is a combination of alleles at adjacent locations on the chromosome that are transmitted together...

 is U5b1, with type V also common. There is an intriguing study that suggests a connection with the Sami to the Berber people
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...

 of northern Africa.

Before the 15th century

Historically, the Sami inhabited all of Northern Russia, Finland, and Eastern Karelia for a long time, though the Eastern Sami became assimilated into Finnish and Karelian populations after settlers from Häme
Tavastia (historical province)
Tavastia, Tavastland or Häme, Russian Emi or Yemi, is a historical province in the south of Finland. It borders Finland Proper, Satakunta, Ostrobothnia, Savonia and Uusimaa.- Administration :...

, Savo
Savonia (historical province)
Savonia is a historical province in the east of Finland. It borders to Uusimaa, Tavastia, Ostrobothnia, and Karelia. Largest cities in Savo by population are Kuopio, Mikkeli, Savonlinna and Varkaus.-Administration:...

, and Karelia
Karelia
Karelia , the land of the Karelian peoples, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Finland, Russia, and Sweden...

 migrated into the region. Placenames, e.g. Nuuksio
Nuuksio
Nuuksio or Noux is a district of Espoo, a city in Finland, best known for the Nuuksio National Park. The Solvalla Sports Institute is also located in Nuuksio.- Etymology :...

 on the south coast of Finland, remain as proof of former Sami settlement. However, Sami people increasingly mixed with Finnish and Scandinavian settlers, losing their culture and language.

How far south the area of Sami population in Norway extended in the past, is an uncertain topic, and is currently debated among historians and archeologists. The Norwegian historian Yngvar Nielsen was commissioned by the Norwegian government in 1889 to determine this question in order to settle the contemporary question of Sami land rights. He concluded that the Sami had lived no further south than Lierne
Lierne
Lierne is a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region, and it is the largest municipality in Trøndelag. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sandvika. Other villages include Inderdal, Sørli, and Tunnsjø senter...

 in Nord-Trøndelag
Nord-Trøndelag
is a county constituting the northern part of Trøndelag in Norway. As of 2010, the county had 131,555 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-least populated county. The largest municipalities are Stjørdal, Steinkjer—the county seat, Levanger, Namsos and Verdal, all with between 21,000 and...

 county until around 1500, when they had started moving south, reaching the area around Lake Femunden in the 18th century. This hypothesis is still accepted among many historians, but has been the subject of scholarly debate in the 21st century. In favour of Nielsen's view, it is pointed out that no Sami settlement to the south of Lierne in medieval times has left any traces in written sources. This argument is countered by pointing out that the Sami culture was nomadic and non-literary, and as such would not be expected to leave written sources. In recent years, the number of archaeological finds that are interpreted as indicating a Sami presence in Southern Norway in the Middle Ages, has increased. These includes foundations in Lesja
Lesja
Lesja is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lesja....

, in Vang in Valdres
Valdres
Valdres is a traditional district in central, southern Norway, situated between Gudbrandsdal and Hallingdal.Administratively, Valdres belongs to Oppland. It consists of the municipalities Nord-Aurdal, Sør-Aurdal, Øystre Slidre, Vestre Slidre, Vang and Etnedal. The main town in the region is...

 and in Hol
Hol
Hol is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway.-Administrative history:The area of Hol was separated from the municipality of Ål in 1877 to become a separate municipality. In 1937 a part of neighboring Uvdal with 220 inhabitants was moved to Hol municipality. The area of Dagali was transferred...

 and Ål
Ål
Ål is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ål....

 in Hallingdal
Hallingdal
Hallingdal is a valley and traditional district in Buskerud county in Norway. It consists of the municipalities of Flå, Nes, Gol, Hemsedal, Ål and Hol.-History:Ancient routes went to Vestlandet through Valdres and Hallingdal and down Røldal to Odda...

. Proponents of the Sami interpretations of these finds assume a mixed populations of Norse and Sami people in the mountainous areas of Southern Norway in the Middle Ages.

Up to around 1500 the Sami were mainly fishermen and trappers, usually in a combination, leading a nomadic lifestyle decided by the migrations of the reindeer
Reindeer
The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...

. Around 1500, due to excessive hunting, again provoked by the fact that the Sami had to pay taxes to Norway, Sweden and Russia, the number of reindeer started to decrease. Most Sami then settled along the fjord
Fjord
Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...

s, on the coast and along the inland waterways to pursue a combination of cattle raising, trapping and fishing. A small minority of the Sami then started to tame the reindeer, becoming the well-known reindeer nomads, who, although often portrayed by outsiders as following the archetypical Sami lifestyle, only represent around 10% of the Sami people.

It is believed that since the Viking Age
Viking Age
Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...

, the Sami culture has been driven further and further north, perhaps mostly by assimilation since no findings yet support battles. However, there are some folklore called stalo or tales, about non-trading relations with a cruel warrior people, interpreted by Læstadius
Lars Levi Læstadius
Lars Levi Læstadius was a Swedish Lutheran pastor of partly Sami ancestry. From the mid 1840s and onward he became the leader of the Laestadian movement...

 to be histories of Vikings interactions. Besides these considerations, there were also foreign trading relations. Animal hides and furs were the most common commodities and exchanged with salt, metal blades and different kinds of coins. (The latter commodities was used as ornaments.).

Along the Northern Norwegian coast, the Sami culture came under pressure during the Iron Age by expanding Norse settlements and taxation from powerful Norse chieftains. The nature of the Norse-Sami relationship along the North-Norwegian coast in the Iron Age is still hotly debated, but possibly the Sami were quite happy to ally themselves with the Norse chieftains, as they could provide protection against Finno-Ugric enemies from the area around the White Sea.

However, in the early Middle Ages, this is partly reversed, as the power of the chieftains are broken by the centralized Norwegian state. Another wave of Norse settlement along the coast of Finnmark
Finnmark
or Finnmárku is a county in the extreme northeast of Norway. By land it borders Troms county to the west, Finland to the south and Russia to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea to the northwest, and the Barents Sea to the north and northeast.The county was formerly known as Finmarkens...

 province is triggered by the fish trade in the 14th century. However, these highly specialized fishing communities made little impact on the Sami lifestyle, and in the late Middle Ages, the two communities could exist alongside each other with little contact except occasional trading.

Sami art

Traditionally, Sami art has been distinguished by its combination of functional appropriateness and vibrant, decorative beauty. Both qualities grew out of a deep respect for nature, embodied in the Sami's animism. Their religion found its most complete expression in Shamanism
Shamanism
Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...

, evident in their worship of the seite, an unusually shaped rock or tree stump that was assumed to be the home of a deity. Pictorial and sculptural art in the Western sense is a 20th century innovation in Sami culture used to preserve and develop key aspects of a pantheistic culture, dependent on the rhythms of the seasons.

An economic shift

From the 15th century on, the Sami came under increased pressure. The surrounding states, Denmark-Norway, Sweden-Finland and Russia showed increased interest in the Sami areas. Sweden, at the time blocked from the North Sea by Danish-Norwegian territory, was interested in a port at the Atlantic coast, and Russian expansion also reached the coasts of the Barents Sea. All claimed the right to tax the Sami people, and Finnish-speaking tax collectors from the northern coast of the Gulf of Bothnia
Gulf of Bothnia
The Gulf of Bothnia is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It is situated between Finland's west coast and Sweden's east coast. In the south of the gulf lie the Åland Islands, between the Sea of Åland and the Archipelago Sea.-Name:...

 reached the northern coasts, their Russian colleagues collected taxes as far west as the Harstad
Harstad
is the second largest city and municipality by population, in Troms county, Norway – the city is also the third largest in North Norway. Thus Harstad is the natural centre for its district. Situated approximately north of the Arctic Circle, the city celebrated its 100th anniversary in...

 area of Norway and the Norwegian tax collectors collected riches from the inland of the Kola peninsula
Kola Peninsula
The Kola Peninsula is a peninsula in the far northwest of Russia. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely to the north of the Arctic Circle and is washed by the Barents Sea in the north and the White Sea in the east and southeast...

.

Hence the hunting intensified, and the number of wild reindeer declined. The Sami were forced to do something else. Reindeer husbandry was previously practiced in a limited way, for instance one tamed a few reindeer to divert the wild reindeer towards a cliff, hunting ditches etc. Subsequently, a more intense kind of reindeer husbandry was practiced, in which the reindeer were more or less tamed. Now, all reindeer in the Sami area are tame, or owned by someone.

The majority of Sami people, however, settled along the inland river, along the fjords and on the outer coast. Fishing, in the sea or in fresh water, hunting and a simple herding of cows, sheep and goats together make the livelihood of most Sami.

Reindeer
Reindeer
The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...

 and other animals play a central part in Sami culture, though today reindeer husbandry
Animal husbandry
Animal husbandry is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock.- History :Animal husbandry has been practiced for thousands of years, since the first domestication of animals....

 is of dwindling economic relevance for the Sami people. There is currently (2004) no clear indication when reindeer-raising started, perhaps about 500 AD, but tax tributes were raised in the 16th century. Since the 16th century, Samis have always paid taxes in monetary currency, and some historians have proposed that large scale husbandry is not older than from this period.

Lapponia
Lapponia (book)
Lapponia is a book written by Johannes Schefferus covering a very comprehensive history of Northern Scandinavia topology, environment and Sami living condition, dwelling-places, clothing, gender roles, hunting, child raising, shamanism and pagan religion. It was published in late 1673 and closely...

(1673), written by the rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...

ian Johannes Schefferus
Johannes Schefferus
Johannes Schefferus was one of the most important Swedish humanists of his time.Schefferus was born in Strasbourg, then part of the Holy Roman Empire...

, 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
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...

'. 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
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, English, and other languages (though not to Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...

 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
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...

, sorcery
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...

, drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...

s and heathenry
Heathenry
Heathenry, Heathenism or Heathendom may refer to:* an English loan-translation of paganus, see Paganism* a term for Germanic Neopaganism...

. But there was also criticism against the ethnography, claiming Sami to be more warlike in character, rather than the image Schefferus presented.

Swedish advances into Sapmi

Since the 15th century, the Sami people have traditionally been subjects of Sweden, Norway, Russia and for some time Denmark. In the 16th century Gustav I of Sweden
Gustav I of Sweden
Gustav I of Sweden, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known simply as Gustav Vasa , was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death....

 officially claimed that all Sami should be under Swedish realm. However, the area was shared between the countries (i.e. only Sweden and Norway—at that time the Baltic-Finnic tribes of the region that is now Finland were also subjects of Sweden) and the border was set up to be the water flux line in Fennoscandia
Fennoscandia
Fennoscandia and Fenno-Scandinavia are geographic and geological terms used to describe the Scandinavian Peninsula, the Kola Peninsula, Karelia and Finland...

. After this "unification", the society, a structure with a few ruling and wealthy citizens called birkarls, ceased to exist, especially with the new king Charles IX
Charles IX of Sweden
Charles IX of Sweden also Carl, was King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I of Sweden and his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, brother of Eric XIV and John III of Sweden, and uncle of Sigismund III Vasa king of both Sweden and Poland...

 who swore by his crown to be the "... Lappers j Nordlanden, the Caijaners" king 1607. Yoik
Yoik
A joik, , luohti, vuolle, leu'dd, or juoiggus is a traditional Sami form of song.Originally, joik referred to only one of several Sami singing styles, but in English the word is often used to refer to all types of traditional Sami singing...

ing, drumming and scarification
Scarification
Scarifying involves scratching, etching, burning, or superficially cutting designs, pictures, or words into the skin as a permanent body modification.In the process of body scarification, scars are formed by cutting or branding the skin...

 was now abandoned and seen as (juridical terms) "magic" or "sorcery", something that were probably aimed to remove opposition against the crowns. The hard custody of Sami peoples resulted in a great loss of Sami culture.

The boundary agreement (like a "Codex Lapponia") between Sweden and Norway had an attachment; frequently called Lappkodicillen or "Samic Magna Carta
Magna Carta
Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...

." It has the same meaning for Samis even today (or at least till 2005), but is only a convention
Treaty
A treaty is an express agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an agreement, protocol, covenant, convention or exchange of letters, among other terms...

 between Sweden and Norway and does not include Finland and Russia. It regulates how the land is shared by Sami peoples between the border of Sweden and Norway.

After the 17th century, many Sami families lost the right to use Swedish land since they were poor and could not pay tribute for it like other subjects. The state also took the Sami area in tighter control with specific Lappmark Regulations
Lappmarken
Lappmarken was an earlier Swedish name for the northern part of the old Kingdom of Sweden specifically inhabited by the Sami people. In addition to the present-day Swedish Lapland, it also covered Västerbotten, Jämtland and Härjedalen, as well as the Finnish Lapland. As a name, it is related to...

, enforcing non-Sami settlements on the area. This fostered opposition among Sami groups that wanted hunting, fishing, and pastoralistic areas back. Instead other groups often took over to put more use to the land. It was also at this time the county of Lappland was established in Sweden.

Russian interest

In the 16th century, as part of a general expansion period for the Russian empire, missionaries were sent to the far reaches of the empire, and several Russian Orthodox chapels were built on the Kola Peninsula
Kola Peninsula
The Kola Peninsula is a peninsula in the far northwest of Russia. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely to the north of the Arctic Circle and is washed by the Barents Sea in the north and the White Sea in the east and southeast...

. The westernmost advance was St. George's chapel in Neiden/Njavdam near Kirkenes
Kirkenes
is a town in the municipality of Sør-Varanger in the county of Finnmark in the far northeast of Norway...

 in the Norwegian/Russian borderlands.

Danish-Norwegian policies in the North

On the Norwegian side, the Sami were converted by force to the Lutheran faith around 1720. Thomas von Westen was the leading man of the missionary effort, and his methods included burning the shaman drums on the fire and the like. However, economically the Sami were not that badly off, compared to the Norwegian population. They were free to trade with whom they wanted, and entertained trade links with Norwegians and Russians alike. However, the crumbling economy of the Norwegian communities along the outer coast led to increased pressure on the land and conflicts between the two communities.

19th century: Increased pressure

The 19th century led to yet increased interest for the far north.

New borders in an old land

In 1809, Finland was seized by Russia, creating a new border right through the Sami area. In 1826, the Norwegian/Russian border treaty finally drew the border between Norway and Finland-Russia, where large tracts of land had previously been more or less governing themselves under very light joint control from Russia, Sweden and Denmark-Norway. This meant that reindeer herders who until now had stayed in Finland in Winter and on the Norwegian coast in Summer, could no longer cross the borders. The Norwegian/Swedish border, however, could still be crossed by reindeer herders until 1940.

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
Lapp Codicil of 1751
Lapp Codicil of 1751, often referred to as the Sami Magna Carta is an addendum to the Stromstad Treaty of 1751 that defined the Norwegian-Swedish border....

 until 1940, when the border was closed due to Germany's occupation of Norway. After World War II, 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
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...

 environment, enabling Sami culture to resist cultural influences from the South. Indeed, throughout the 18th century, 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.

Economical marginalization

In all countries, the 19th century was a period of economic growth. In Norway, cities were founded and fish exports increased. The Sami way of life became increasingly outdated, and the Sami were marginalized and left out of the general expansion.

Christianization and the Laestadius Movement

In the 1840s, the Swedish-Sami minister, Lars Levi Laestadius, preached a particularly strict and puritan version of the Lutheran teachings. This led to a religious awakening among the Sami across every border, often with much animosity towards the authorities and the established church. In 1852, this led to riots in the municipality of Kautokeino
Kautokeino
or Guovdageaidnu , is a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino...

, where the minister was badly beaten and the local tradesman slain by fanatic "crusaders". The leaders of the riots were later executed or condemned to long imprisonment. After this initial violent outbreak, the Laestadius movement continued to gain ground in Sweden, Norway and Finland. However, the leaders now insisted on a more cooperative attitude with the authorities.

Cultural pressure

In Norway, the use of Sami in teaching and preaching had initially been encouraged. However, with the rise in nationalism in Norway from the 1860s onward, the Norwegian authorities changed their policies in a more nationalistic direction. From around 1900 this was intensified, and no Sami could be used in public school or in the official church.

The 20th century

In the 20th 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, strong economic development in the north led 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 in Finnmark
Finnmark
or Finnmárku is a county in the extreme northeast of Norway. By land it borders Troms county to the west, Finland to the south and Russia to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea to the northwest, and the Barents Sea to the north and northeast.The county was formerly known as Finmarkens...

, had to prove knowledge of the Norwegian language. This also ultimately caused the dislocation
Dislocation of Sami people
The Dislocation of Sami people refers to the ordered movement of 300-400 Sami peoples from Jukkasjärvi and Karesuando in 1920s to 1940s.-Background:This was outermost a result of political nature between Norway and Russia....

 in the 1920s, that increased 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 destruction in northern Finland and northern Norway in 1944-45, destroying all existing houses and visible traces of Sami culture. After World War II the pressure was relaxed somewhat.

Prewar hardliners in Norway

The 20th century started with yet increased pressure on the Norwegian side of the border. In the name of progress, Norwegian language and culture was promoted, and Sami language and culture dismissed as backward, uncultured, downright ridiculous and even the product of an inferior race. Land, that previously belonged to no one, and was used according to age-old principles, was considered state property. Settlers had to prove they could speak good Norwegian before they could claim new land for agriculture.

Sweden

In Sweden, the policies were at first markedly less militant. Teachers followed Sami reindeer herders to provide education for the children, but Sami areas were increasingly exploited by the then new mines in Kiruna
Kiruna
Kiruna is the northernmost city in Sweden, situated in Lapland province, with 18,154 inhabitants in 2005. It is the seat of Kiruna Municipality Kiruna (Northern Sami: Giron, Finnish: Kiiruna) is the northernmost city in Sweden, situated in Lapland province, with 18,154 inhabitants in 2005. It is...

 and Gällivare
Gällivare
Gällivare is a locality and the seat of Gällivare Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden with 8,480 inhabitants in 2005. The town was founded in the 17th century...

 and the construction of the Luleå-Narvik railway.

Later, with the founding of the Swedish Race Biology Institute
Statens institut för rasbiologi
Statens institut för rasbiologi was a Swedish governmental research institute founded in 1922 with the stated purpose of studying eugenics and human genetics. It was located in Uppsala and as a governmental agency, it was the world’s first of its kind...

, Sami graves were plundered to provide research material.

Russia

In Russia, age-old Sami ways of life were brutally interrupted by the collectivization of the reindeer husbandry and agriculture in general. Most Samis were organized in a single kolkhoz
Kolkhoz
A kolkhoz , plural kolkhozy, was a form of collective farming in the Soviet Union that existed along with state farms . The word is a contraction of коллекти́вное хозя́йство, or "collective farm", while sovkhoz is a contraction of советское хозяйство...

, located in the central part of the Peninsula, at Lovozero (Sami: Lojavri). The Soviet state made an enormous effort to develop this strategically important region, and the Sami people witnessed their land being overrun by ethnic Russians and other Soviet nationalities, including Nenets
Nenets people
The Nenets are an indigenous people in Russia. According to the latest census in 2002, there are 41,302 Nenets in the Russian Federation, most of them living in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and Nenets Autonomous Okrug...

 and other arctic peoples.

World War II destructions

The Second World War was fought right in the middle of the Sami area, and the eastern Sami in North Eastern Finland and Russia found themselves fighting on opposite sides. The withdrawal of the German Wehrmacht from Northern Finland and far north of Norway meant that all houses, roads and infrastructure was destroyed. This meant forced evacuation, destruction, an economical setback and the loss of all visible history. The Finnmark
Finnmark
or Finnmárku is a county in the extreme northeast of Norway. By land it borders Troms county to the west, Finland to the south and Russia to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea to the northwest, and the Barents Sea to the north and northeast.The county was formerly known as Finmarkens...

 province, the north-eastern municipalities of Troms
Troms
or Romsa is a county in North Norway, bordering Finnmark to the northeast and Nordland in the southwest. To the south is Norrbotten Län in Sweden and further southeast is a shorter border with Lapland Province in Finland. To the west is the Norwegian Sea...

 province and all of the northern areas of Finland were but smoking ruins.

Reconstruction

The reconstruction of the northern areas was a marked programme for modernization. In Finnmark, modern houses were built, and the Norwegian way of life was promoted as the way towards progress and modernity. Sami was seen as old, ridiculous, and best left behind.

Renewed interest

News in Sami on national radio in Norway started in 1946. At about the same time, experiments were being done with bilingual teachings of the alphabet in the first and second grade, to ease the learning process. However, the presence of a Sami minority in Norway was largely ignored. Education, communication, industrialization, all contributed to integrating Sami communities into Norwegian society at the point of losing identity.

The conflicts between Sami and the Nordic governments continued into the mid 20th century. The proposed construction of the hydro power dam in the 1960s and 1970s contained controversial
Alta controversy
The Alta controversy refers to a political controversy in Norway in the late 1970s and early 1980s concerning the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in the Alta river in Finnmark, Northern Norway.-Key events:...

 propositions such as putting a village (Máze
Máze
Masi is a village in Kautokeino municipality in Finnmark, Norway.Both names of the village are officially recognized in Norway....

) and a cemetery under water.

Only a minor part is today working with reindeer husbandry. There are also minor groups working as fishermen, producing Sami arts and serving tourism. Besides having a voting length in the so called Sami Parliament or influence in any Sami language, the rest are ordinary citizens, adhering to the Scandinavian culture. In Sweden, major parts of Norrland
Norrland
Norrland is one of the three lands of Sweden , the northern part, consisting of nine provinces. The term Norrland is not used for any administrative purpose, but it is common in everyday language, e.g...

 (and not only Sami villages) are also experiencing major emigration to larger towns.

With the creation of the Republic of Finland in the first half of the 20th century, the Sami inhabiting this area were no longer under the rule of the Russian Empire, but instead citizens of the newly created state of Finland. The Sami Parliament of Finland was created in 1973. One recent issue concerning Sami rights in Finland is the foresting of traditional Sami land by state-owned Finnish companies.

Since 1992, the Sami have had their own national day; the February 6.

In 1898 and 1907-08 some Sami emigrated to Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

 and Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...

, respectively, due to requests from the American government. Their mission was to teach reindeer herding to native Americans. (Source: Nordisk familjebok)

Racial Discrimination

Proto-Sami ancestors and descendants are likely to have originated from the nomadic tribes of North Africa. They probably went to the Ural Mountains in Russia. There, they lived a long while and live to this day. Some of the tribes must also have traveled to the Far Eastern Siberia. In Mongolia there including Mongolian reindeer-herding nomads, reindeer herding is common among many Sami. Sami and the Mongols are not as closely genetically related. Cultural similarities are that both people believed in shamanism. Proto-Sami walked in the ice age in Scandinavia. They were the first ethnic group to settle in Scandinavia after the Ice Age. The Germans forced their way into the Roman Empire, over time, so they came to Scandinavia and England. Early among the Germans and the proto-Sami in a lesser degree. Ancient Sami and Germanic languages are not related to each other. Sami learned to some extent to write in Sami with Germanic runes. There has been writing on the Sami language in the form of runes. The runes are also available on some of Sami ceremonial drums. The Noaidi, the religious scholars used the drum to contact the spirit world. The Noaidis were shamans in the past. The Sami people involved in trade in skins and change the material for handicrafts with. The Vikings had clothes made ​of wadmal
Wadmal
Wadmal is a coarse, dense, usually undyed wool fabric woven in Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Greenland, and the Orkney, Faroe and Shetland Islands from the Middle Ages into the 18th century...

. Sami gákti, the Sami costume is also made ​from wadmal today. Sami married sometimes with outsiders, but mostly they stuck to themselves. Marriages were often arranged in the ancient Sami culture. Among the traditions was a way to show that the marriage had been approved. Many Sami is not aware of contemporary traditions when they are not as well documented. Once a man has married, sew one band on the costumes in which one sees that the man is married. Proto-Sami was probably dark hair, dark eyes, but Sami is mostly dark blond hair and blue eyes today, which they probably got through to marry outsiders. There are Sami who are racist against their own, sometimes as there have been statements that a Sámis haircolor is too blond and refers to the Sami do not have haircolor that blond. There are other statements that only those who do have reindeer are Sami, which has meant that many have lost hope to find back to there origins and the Sami community. Historically the Swedish government had banned the Sami to marry Swedes. This led to inbreeding among the Sami population and those affected by genetic disorders such as heart disease and hip problems. The racial politics that took place was called Lapp ska vara lapp (Sami should be a Sami) There are many Sami who would rather live like Swedes after the psychological bullying. There are still quite a lot people in Lapland have some Sami's ancestry, but from afar. Tornedalningar has often been identified as one of the most racist against Sami. One of the biggest reasons why so few want to live that Sami is the racist policies and abuse that the Swedish state operated. There is a dark page in Swedish history that the Swedes do not want to talk about. Many do not know the story, therefore, many countries have erroneously thought that Sweden should be seen as a rolemodel. However, not many know is that before Nazi Germany started the Statens institut för rasbiologi
Statens institut för rasbiologi
Statens institut för rasbiologi was a Swedish governmental research institute founded in 1922 with the stated purpose of studying eugenics and human genetics. It was located in Uppsala and as a governmental agency, it was the world’s first of its kind...

. It was at that time the most racist of all institutions in the world. Sámis were hit hard by the Swedes racist ideas. A large number of Sami women were forced sterilized. The Swedes chose to dress the Sami women and men nude in photography. The Sami have found it difficult to highlight these issues, then there has been a taboo to talk about sexuality openly. With the founding of the Swedish Race Biology Institute
Statens institut för rasbiologi
Statens institut för rasbiologi was a Swedish governmental research institute founded in 1922 with the stated purpose of studying eugenics and human genetics. It was located in Uppsala and as a governmental agency, it was the world’s first of its kind...

, Sami graves were plundered to provide research material. The dimensions of the Sami were measured. The Swedish government stole the Sami Sami skulls from graves and has refused to give them 57 back to the Sami people for burial. Sami have always had great respect for the dead always buried their dead. The Sami Funerals used to take a last farewell with an open casket in front of the dead man's house and the funeral had rather fancy meals. These traditions are becoming less prevalent among today's Sami who are not as interested in reflecting on death. Neither one speaks about death openly. Today, there is something called the Sami Parliament and is a government agency run by the Swedish state. Sami have lost a large number of pastures and the Sami Parliament ensures that the reindeer herders still survive. In principle, the give subsidys and Sami listens obediently on the Swedish State. The Sami Parliament has basically has no political power but it is instead the Swedish state, which has full control. Today the Swedish state very different, and what once belonged to the most racist state has been transformed into a multicultural society. But still 35 percent of the Sami feel vulnerable to discrimination today. The emotional pain that many Sami feels can lead to physical illnesses like heart disease. There are many more suicide cases among the Sami than Swedes. The that was once a united nation with Siida
Siida
The siida is a Sami local community that has existed from time immemorial. A siida , or a "reindeer pastoralistic district," is a Sami reindeer foraging area, a group for reindeer herding and a corporation working for the economic benefit of its members...

 system of community, became a divided people, with many dialects (52) and the Sami languages. None of them could work together after Siida system disappeared. The Sami had difficulty to assert themselves in the great society. Assimilation passed quickly and although it was rumored that the Saami people had benefits, it appeared that only the reindeer community had it good and got refunds. The Sami people often marry with Swedes today. The Sami have long ago been very good to their women, but the Swedish government claims that the Sámis do not have sufficiently Gender equality
Gender equality
Gender equality is the goal of the equality of the genders, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality.- Concept :...

. Therefore, the government has invested money to get Sami women to learn about domination techniques. The Swedish Sami Parliaments Chairman has recently remained women. The remaining Sami belongs to the oppressed and discriminated group, perhaps even as "second class citizens" like many Berbers (nomadic tribes of North Africa) once felt.

Assimilated Sámi

Kainuu Sámi was spoken in Kainuu, but became extinct in the 1700s. Kainuu Sámi belong to the Eastern Sámi language group. Kainuu Sami died for over 300 years ago when Kainuu Sami probably assimilated and learned Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...

.

Original inhabitants of Kainuu were Sami
Sami people
The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...

 hunter-fisherers. In the 17th century, the Governor General of Finland Per Brahe
Per Brahe
Per Brahe may refer to:*Count Per Brahe the Elder , Swedish statesman*Count Per Brahe the Younger , Swedish soldier and statesman* The Swedish steamer ferry Per Brahe, wrecked in 1918...

 fostered the population growth of Kainuu by giving a ten year tax exemption
Tax exemption
Various tax systems grant a tax exemption to certain organizations, persons, income, property or other items taxable under the system. Tax exemption may also refer to a personal allowance or specific monetary exemption which may be claimed by an individual to reduce taxable income under some...

 to settlers. It was necessary to populate Kainuu with Finnish farmers because the area was threatened from the east by the Russians.

There are only 14,600 Sámis living in Sweden today.

Lapland war 1944-1945 in WWII

Waffen-SS (6. SS-Gebirgs-Division Nord) were fighting in the Lapland War
Lapland War
The Lapland War were the hostilities between Finland and Nazi Germany between September 1944 and April 1945, fought in Finland's northernmost Lapland Province. While the Finns saw this as a separate conflict much like the Continuation War, German forces considered their actions to be part of the...

. There were ecounters between the Sámi people and the Germans. The assimilated Sámi would have been fighting in the Finnish army.

{| align="center"
|

See also

  • Sami people
    Sami people
    The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...

  • Fragments of Lappish Mythology
    Fragments of Lappish Mythology
    Fragments of Lappish Mythology is the detailed documented account of the Sami religious beliefs and mythology during the mid-19th century. It was written between 1838–1845 by Swedish minister Lars Levi Læstadius, but was not published until 1997 in Swedish, Finnish in 2000 and in English in 2002...

    , A recently found book by Lars Levi Læstadius
    Lars Levi Læstadius
    Lars Levi Læstadius was a Swedish Lutheran pastor of partly Sami ancestry. From the mid 1840s and onward he became the leader of the Laestadian movement...

     that was lost from 1845 to 1997 about the traditional religions of the Sami.
  • Norwegianization
    Norwegianization
    Norwegianization is a term used to described the official government policy carried out by the Norwegian government against the Sami and later the Kven people of northern Norway to assimilate non-Norwegian-speaking native populations into an ethnically and culturally uniform Norwegian population...

    - a program to forcibly assimilate the Sami into Norwegian culture.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK