The Sami - Finland - page 645

For more information, visit the excellent Siida museum in Inari, Samiland in Levi or the
Arktikum in Rovaniemi. Hidden away via the 'web exhibitions' page on the Siida website
( www.siida.fi ) you can access a series of excellent pages on the Inari and Skolt Sámi cul-
tures.
Groups
More than half of the 70,000 Sámi population are in Norway, while around 9000 reside in
Finland; there are close cross-border cultural ties. Five distinct Sámi groups with distinct
cultural traditions live in Finland. Vuotso Sámi live around Saariselkä and are the south-
ernmost group. Enontekiö Sámi dwell around Hetta in the west and, with Utsjoki Sámi,
who settled from Finland's northernmost tip along the Norwegian border to Karigasniemi,
have the strongest reindeer-herding heritage. Inari Sámi live around the shores of Inarijärvi
and have a strong fishing tradition. Skolt Sámi originally inhabited the Kola Peninsula
around Petsamo, and fled to Finland when the Soviet Union took back control of that area.
They number around 600, live around Sevettijärvi and Nellim, and are of Orthodox reli-
gion.
Role of the Reindeer
Reindeer have always been central to the Sámi existence. Sámi consumed the meat and
milk, used the fur for clothing and bedding, and made fish hooks and harpoons from the
bones and antlers. Today a significant percentage of Sámi living in Sápmi are involved in
reindeer husbandry; tourism is another big employer.
Originally the Sámi hunted wild reindeer, usually trapping them in pitfalls. Hunting con-
tinued until around the 16th century, when the Sámi began to domesticate entire herds and
migrate with them. Towards the end of the 19th century, Finland's reindeer herders were
organised into paliskunta cooperatives, of which there are now 56 in northern Finland.
Reindeer wander free around the large natural areas within each paliskunta, which are
bordered by enormous fences that cross the Lapland wilderness. Each herder is responsible
for his stock and identifies them by earmarks - a series of distinctive notches cut into the
ear of each animal. GPS collars now help owners to track their animals.