The Sami - Finland - page 644

The Sámi
Sámi are the indigenous inhabitants of Lapland and are today spread across
four countries from the Kola Peninsula in Russia to the southern Norwegian
mountains. The Sámi region is called Sápmi, and about half of Finnish Sámi
live in it. According to archaeological evidence, this region was first settled
soon after the last ice age around 10,000 years ago, but it wasn't until the be-
ginning of the Christian era - the early Iron Age - that Finns and Sámi had
become two distinct groups with diverging languages.
Traditions & Beliefs
The early inhabitants were nomadic people - hunters, fishers and food-gatherers - who mi-
grated with the seasons. Early Sámi society was based on the siida, small groups compris-
ing a number of families who controlled particular hunting, herding and fishing grounds.
Families lived in a kota, a traditional dwelling resembling the tepee or wigwam of native
North Americans. Smaller tents served as temporary shelters while following the migrating
reindeer herds; a 'winter village' system also developed, where groups came together to
help survive the harsh winter months. Mechanisation in the 1950s meant reindeer herders
could go out on snowmobiles and return home every night. This ended the need for no-
madism and the Sámi became a settled people.
The natural environment was essential to Sámi existence: they worshipped the sun (fath-
er), earth (mother) and wind, and believed all things in nature had a soul. There were many
gods, who dwelled in seita (holy sites): fells, lakes or sacred stones. The link with the gods
was through the noaidi (shaman), the most important member of the community.
Traditional legends, rules of society and fairy tales were handed down through the gener-
ations by storytelling. A unique form of storytelling was the yoik, a chant in which the sing-
er would use words or imitate the sounds of animals and nature to describe experiences or
people. It's still used by the Sámi today, sometimes accompanied by instruments.