Agriculture in Sapmi
Historical agriculture and gathering in Sapmi.
Edible Gathered Plants of Sami People
Historically, the long, dark winters of Sápmi made farming a poor option for Sami people. Most instead chose to live by hunting, fishing, reindeer herding, and gathering edible plants. Berries were an especially important source of vitamins and nutrients. Every fall, families descended on cloudberry bogs and picked enough to store for winter. They also gathered blueberries, bilberries, and cranberries.[1]
Besides berries, Sami families collected wild sorrel and angelica in the summer. Angelica was often eaten raw as a treat. Sorrel was boiled in large quantities and mixed with reindeer milk and then stored for winter. In times of scarcity, inner bark from pine trees could be ground into flour and baked. For the most part, however, the historic Sami ate a diet heavy in meats.[2][3] This would only change with the gradual settlement of Sami culture.
Shifting to Farming Communities
The first farmers in Sami territory were settlers, slowly expanding north. But after a devastating sweep of the black plague in the 14th century, many of their farms lay empty. Their governments encouraged Sami families to settle on those lands and take up farming. The transition proved difficult, but it offered more stability for Coastal Sami families. The Coastal Sami, traditionally fishermen, were much less nomadic than Mountain or Forest Sami. Women took up most of the farm-work while men continued to fish. They grew potatoes, oats, turnips, barley, and hay.[4][5]
While the Mountain Sami continued their migrations, the spread of farming in Sápmi affected everyone. Settled communities attracted Christian missionaries and churches. More settlers followed. As former wilderness turned to fields, reindeer herds thinned. In response, Mountain Sami domesticated their herds and built small farms of their own. Conflicts arose between herders and farmers whose crops were eaten or trampled. Today, grazing rights and land usage are still frequent subjects of debate in the politics of Sami nations.[6]
Bibliography
Michael P. Robinson and Karim-Aly S. Kassam, Sami Potatoes: Living With Reindeer and Perestroika, ed. Leif Rantala (Calgary: Bayeux Arts, 1998), 51-60.
Carl Von Linné, Lachesis Lapponica, or a Tour in Lapland, ed. James Edward Smith (London: White and Cochrane, 1811), 102.
Ibid., 265.
Ken Albala, ed., Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia, vol. 1 (Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2011), 312-316.
Myrdene Anderson, "Food Trends Among Saami in Arctic Saapmi" in Gender and Food: From Production to Consumption and After, eds. Marcia Texler Segal and Vasilikie P. Demos (London: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2016), 4-22.
Traditional Occupations of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples: Emerging Trends (Geneva: ILO, 2000).
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