Sami Cultural Overview
An index and summary of the traditional geography, history, daily life, society, economics, beliefs, and arts of Sami peoples.
The Sami are the indigenous people of Sápmi, a region spanning northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia.
Geography
Sápmi extends from the rocky northern coast of Norway, across Sweden and Finland, and ends along the eastern coast of Russia’s Kola Peninsula. Much of the area lies north of the Arctic Circle, seeing long winter nights and summer days. Its southern borders are home to dense forests, lush plains, and many lakes and rivers. Its craggy northern coast is more mountainous, broken up by hundreds of fjords and small islands.
Climate: Temperate to Arctic
Total Population: Estimated 70,000
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History
The Sami are the descendants of the original inhabitants of Sápmi, who likely followed receding glaciers north about 10,000 years ago. There they diversified into nomadic communities of hunters and gatherers, following herds of reindeer on their annual migration between summer coastal mountains and winter inland pastures.
This pattern of life more or less continued until the late medieval era, when increasing contact with their neighbors to the south brought extensive changes. Over time, Sami communities faced aggressive taxation, land loss, and forcible religious conversion. They responded by adapting, domesticating formerly wild reindeer and settling into more sedentary coastal communities. In the 1970s, Sami activists began to organize on a wide scale to preserve their languages, cultures, and lifestyles. Sami people in Sweden, Norway, and Finland are now represented by their own parliaments as well as their national governments.
Daily Life
Originally, almost all Sami people lived as nomadic hunters, gatherers, and fishermen. They hunted wild reindeer, bears, and other game for food and hides. Those hides could then be fashioned into clothing or housing. Families traveled in large, tipi-like tents called lavvu, which could be built and taken down quickly, and in more permanent turf huts called goahti or gamme. Their high-collared tunics, or gakti, could be decorated with silver ornaments and, later on, embroidered with pewter thread. In summer, families gathered at coastal fishing grounds to bring in large hauls of salmon and cod. Coffee came to be a popular drink that is still commonly served today.
By the 16th century, however, Sami people began to diverge into three distinct lifestyles. The Mountain Sami continued their nomadic lifestyles, though they began taming deer rather than hunting them. Coastal Sami people settled into sedentary villages as farmers, fishermen, and merchants. The Forest Sami, meanwhile, often kept non-migratory herds of reindeer and survived through hunting and trapping. Today, the majority of Sami people lead modern lifestyles. The extent to which any one person follows older customs is a matter of personal choice.
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Society
Traditional Sami societies never need to organize on a large scale. Instead, extended social networks came together and parted with the seasons. These groups were known as siida and governed by elders. Collectively, the siida managed its shared territory, and members might assist each other with their herds and chores. The influence of the siida waned as many Sami families settled into coastal towns, but the system has survived to the present day. Modern siida act somewhat like a corporation, regulating designated reindeer herding areas and the families legally allowed to work in the industry. More broadly, Sami people in Sweden, Norway, and Finland are also represented by parliaments as well as their larger governments.
Economy
Traditional Sami economies revolved around subsistence lifestyles, with limited outside trading for metals, jewelry, and other valuable goods. Their relative independence continued up to the 16th century, when foreign economic systems began to close in around them. Reindeer hunters transitioned into herders, but even then, their herds crossed new borders and were taxed accordingly. Settlers replaced grazing lands with farms, and Sami communities soon divided into the three broad lifestyles described earlier: Mountain, Coastal, and Forest. At the same time, increasing contact with the outside world brought new goods to the region, including potatoes, coffee, silk, and cotton.
Today, Sami people pursue a variety of careers in both urban and rural areas. Only about 10 percent are still involved with the reindeer industry. Rather than dogs and skis, these modern herders may instead employ equipment like ATVs, helicopters, and GPS radios. Tourism and handicrafts have grown into important industries for many Sami communities. Sami activists have worked in recent decades to expand access to education and protect Sami economic interests.
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Beliefs
Prior to widespread missionary movements in the 17th century, most Sami families practiced an indigenous faith with elements of shamanism, animism, and polytheism. These Sami people saw the world as a multilayered existence, with humans occupying only one parts of reality. Gods, spirits, and ancestral souls could also enter and influence the world, often concentrated around sacred sites known as siedi. Numerous gods controlled various aspects of the world. Of these, the hearth goddess Sarakka, the “Alder Man” Leib Olmai, and the thunder god Horagalles were particularly revered. Individuals might conduct their own worship and sacrifices, but more advanced spiritual work was reserved for noaide shamans, who were said to be able to leave their bodies, heal the sick, and ward off spiritual harm through the use of sacred drums.
As settlers from Christian nations advanced northward, they saw the traditional faith of the Sami as dangerous sorcery. Over time, through missionary schools and the destruction of sacred drums, the majority of Sami people converted to a form of Lutheranism or Russian Orthodoxy. Shamanism, however, is still practiced in some areas, particularly for healing purposes.
Arts & Music
Due to their historically nomadic lifestyles, Sami arts evolved to be portable and practical. Most of their artistic work was used to embellish their tools and clothing, such as carved spoons and knife handles. Carving was typically a male occupation, while women sewed clothing and decorated it with woven bands, silver ornaments, and pewter thread. The most well known form of Sami musical expression is the joik, a chanting song meant to evoke the spiritual essence of the person, place, or thing it describes. Today, Sami arts are still practiced and have become a popular part of Sápmi’s tourism industry. Many artists now sell their wares under the Duodji label, a sign of authenticity in a market sometimes crowded with imitations.
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References
“History Articles.” Sami Culture, University of Texas, www.laits.utexas.edu/sami/dieda/history.htm.
Hund, Andrew J., ed. Antarctica and the Arctic Circle. Vol 1. ABC-CLIO. 2014.
“Preserving Indigenous Culture in the Arctic.” Sweden, Swedish Institute, Feb. 2014, sweden.se/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Sami-in-Sweden-low-resolution.pdf.
Robinson, Michael P., Karim-Aly S. Kassam, and Leif Rantala. Sami Potatoes: Living with Reindeer and Perestroika. Bayeux Arts. 1998.
Sami Parliament. “The Sami: An Indigenous People in Sweden.” Samer, Samer.Se, www.samer.se/2137.
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