Let's talk about the Sámi

If we think about the term indigenous people, usually the first thing that comes to our mind is North or Latin America. But did you know that you can find them in Europe as well? The Sámi, which are the only indigenous people in the European Union area, are living in North Europe with their interesting culture.

Most of the Sámi people are living in four countries, half part of Norway and Sweden, north part of Finland and part of Kola Peninsula in Russia. Together that area is called Sapmi and they have inhabited this area for thousands of years. Depending on the calculation method, the Sámi population is 60 000 to 100 000.

In history, Sámi people’s livelihoods were fishing, reindeer herding and handcrafts. These are important things for them nowadays as well, especially reindeer herding but these days Sámi people live also in cities and do different types of work as well. For example in Finland, most Sámi people are actually living in the capital, not in Lapland. It says that the Sámi people are integrating more and more into the Scandinavian lifestyle but that doesn’t mean that they would not be Sámi anymore. In general, it can not be said what kind of lifestyle or character a Sámi person has because they are individuals in the same way as anyone else.

Sámi peoples traditions and culture are still something that everyone should know at least a little bit. Reindeer herding is hundreds of years old traditional livelihoods for them and main occupation. You can easily see reindeer herding areas if you are traveling in Lapland. In history, the Sámi people used to wander to other places with reindeer herds depending on what time of year it was. In winter time they wandered into the forest and in summertime they were at the coast. Nowadays reindeer herding is not that popular source of livelihood and some of the Sámi’s are focusing also on tourism. Every tourist still must remember to appreciate Sámi people’s privacy and not take photos without permission or go to their yard just because of curiosity.

Sámi people’s traditional costumes are also an important part of their identity. Every costume is unique and every Sámi can choose what they want to wear. Of course some similarities appear in the outfits depending on whether you are for example Skolt Sámi or Inari Sámi. In addition the colors of costumes also have meanings. Green means nature, blue water, red fire and yellow sun. Nowadays the Sámi people are using their traditional costumes usually only at celebration events. In this month, six of February is national Sámi day. On that day the Sámi people are celebrating their history and community. In 1917, the sixth of February was the first Sámi National Assembly so the 6th of February is also dedicated to the memory of the first meeting.

The National Assembly’s purpose is to develop and maintain culture and languages. Many people might think that Sámi’s has only one common language but there are actually nine of them. These are minority languages and the threat is that some of these languages might disappear. Nowadays also governments are trying to save languages as well and for example the government of Sweden provides financial resources to help minority languages to preserve.

However, in history it was quite the opposite way. For example in Finland, around 1940 to 1970 the Sámi went to school where they were forced to speak only Finnish, not their own languages because at that time the Finnish government wanted to unite the minority culture to the major culture. That same happened in other countries as well. That’s why nowadays many young Sámi don’t know how to speak their own languages because their parent’s never get educated about that. Luckily these days many people are more aware about Sámi’s positions and rights and there are for example many influencers which point out why it is important to save the Sámi culture and languages.

If you search for information about Sámi, a lot of Google searches show ads about tourist tours. Sámi people are still much more than just some tourist attractions, although tourism is a source of livelihood for some of them. They are very unique indigenous people and all of us should show some respect for them.

Katariina Weijo

Visit Inari - Saamelaiset ja poronhoito Sweden.se - Sami in Sweden Studeo.fi - Asuvatko saamelaiset Lapissa Photo: Anssi Kömi, EATNAMEAMET - Our Silent Struggle