Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
9
A BRIEF LOOK AT THE SÁMI
Among the oldest people in Europe, the
Sámi
- erroneously known to many as “Lapps” - are
probably descended from the original prehistoric inhabitants of much of Scandinavia and
northern Russia. Today there are around 58,000
Sámi
, stretched across the whole of the
northernmost regions of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia; traces of their nomadic
culture have even been discovered as far south as Poland. In Sweden itself - though the
population is declining - they number around 17,000 (ten percent of the population of
northern Sweden), their domain extending over half the country, stretching up from the
northern parts of Dalarna.
The
Sámi
language
is a rich one, strongly influenced by their harmonious natural existence.
There are no words for certain alien concepts (like “war”), but there are ninety different terms
to express variations in snow conditions. One of the Finno-Ugric group of languages, which
also contains Finnish and Hungarian, the
Sámi
language is divided into three dialects which
are not mutually comprehensible. In Sweden you'll come across two words for
Sámi
: the
politically correct
Sámi
(as used by the
Sámi
themselves), and, more commonly, the Swedish
corruption
Same
(plural
Samer
).
Reindeer
, of which there are estimated to be 250,000 in Sweden (the maximum allowed by
law is 280,000), have been at the centre of
Sámi
life and culture for thousands of years, with
generations of families following the seasonal movements of the animals. Accordingly, the
Sámi
year is divided into eight separate seasons, ranging from early spring, when they
traditionally bring the reindeer cows up to the calving areas in the hills, through to winter,
when they return to the forests and the pastures.
The
Sámi
were dealt a grievous blow by the
Chernobyl
nuclear disaster of 1986, which
contaminated not only the lichen that their reindeer feed on in winter, but also the game,
fish, berries and fungi that supplement their own diet. Contamination of reindeer meat
meant the collapse of exports of the product to southern Scandinavia, Germany, America
and the Far East; promises of government compensation came late in the day and failed to
address the fact that this disaster wasn't just on an economic level for the
Sámi
, their
traditional culture being inseparably tied to reindeer herding. However, perhaps as a
consequence of Chernobyl, there has been an expansion in other areas of
Sámi
culture.
Traditional
arts and crafts
have become popular and are widely available in craft shops,
and
Sámi
music
(characterized by the rhythmic sounds of
joik
, a form of throat-singing) is
being given a hearing by fans of world music. On balance, it would appear that the
Sámi
are
largely managing to retain their culture and identity in modern Sweden. For more on the
Sámi
in Sweden, visit
W
sametinget.se.
the coarsely hewn timbers which was used to store coffins during winter, waiting for
the thaw in May when the
Sámi
could go out and dig graves again (temperatures in
this part of Sweden regularly plunge to -30°C and below).
The Winter Market
Known simply in Swedish as
Jokkmokks marknad
, the town's 400-year-old
Great
Winter Market
(
W
jokkmokksmarknad.se) traces its origins back to 1602, when King
Karl IX decreed that a series of market sites should be set up in the north to help
extend Swedish territory and increase taxes to fund his many wars. A chapel, a
parsonage and a row of market sheds were built in Jokkmokk, and the rest is history.
Today the market is held on the first Thursday to Sunday of each February, when
thirty thousand people force their way into town - ten times the normal population.
It's the best (and coldest) time of year to be here; with lots of drunken stallholders
trying to flog reindeer hides and other unwanted knick-knacks to even more drunken
passers-by, there's a Wild West feeling in the air at this time. Held on the frozen
Talvatissjön lake behind
Hotell Jokkmokk
(see p.332), the
reindeer races
run during
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT
INSIDE THE ICEHOTEL (P.341); REINDEER PULLING SLEDS, JOKKMOKK (P.328); LAPPSTADEN,
ARVIDSJAUR (P.325) >
