Sámi peoples
The Sami People (there are other names and spellings including Sámi, Saami and the obsolete Lapp) are an indigenous people of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia. The Sami are one of the largest groups of indigenous peoples in Europe.
They call their ancestral lands Sápmi. Traditional occupations are hunting, fishing, reindeer herding and farming, but today only a minority of the Saami making a living from these things alone. The population is about 85,000, of which roughly half live in Norway, although Sweden also has a significant group. Finland and Russia only have smaller groups located in the far north, including the Russian Kola peninsula.
Sami inhabitants have in Sweden, Norway and Finland (but not Russia) a vote in their special designed authority, the Sami Parliament (SP). The SP has a democratically elected parliament and acts as a governmental authority. An individual have a Sami vote length if
- he or she consider oneself to be Sami and (Sweden, Norway, Finland)
- he or she speaks Sami language, or (Sweden, Norway, Finland)
- he or she had/have an father or mother, or grandfather or grandmother, that speak/spoke Sami language (Sweden, Norway, Finland)
- he or she simply feels like Sami (Finland)
History
Main article: Sami history
The Sami folk have inhabited northern regions of Scandinavia since far back into antiquity. The culture is inherited from the pre-historic "Sami people", a Finno-ugric people. See Laponia for antiquity history.
Lapponia, a 35 chapter large book written by Johannes Schefferus (1621 - 1679) is the first detail information that covers Sami culture in early time. It was written due to "ill-natured" foreign propaganda (in particular from Germany) claiming that Sweden had won victories on the battlefield by means of Sami magic. Although the power position Sweden had in that time is today seen as an rather lucky coincident by historians, these rumors was seen as gross slander on the Swedish honor and the country's ability to conduct warfare and had to be condemned by a truthful story about the Semis. The book was publicized in late 1673 and quickly translated to France, German, English, etc. (but not until 1956 to Swedish.) However, newer adapted and abridged version was also quickly publicized in Netherlands and Germany, where chapters on their hard living conditions, topography and the environment and been replaced by made up stories on magic, sorcery, drums and heathenism! (Source: Torso University Library [1])
Religion
Main article: Sami religion
The term Sami religion is usually referring to the pre-Christian religion, practiced till about 18th century. The Christianity started already in the 16th century but the Lutheran bible was first translated in much later time.
The religion has often been described as "magic" and "sorcery" through out time, and peoples both admire and (especially priests) condemn it. But it is rather covered by a large degree of wisdom and a great worship of one's ancestors. It also have common elements with other circumpolar religions -- such as those in Siberia and North America -- and might because of this reason have influenced the Norse mythology, and not vice versa.
Sami language
Main article:Sami language.
The Sami language is divided into nine dialects, of which several have their own written languages. Southern Sami cannot understand Northern Sami. Most dialects are spoken in several countries, as linguistic borders do not correspond to national borders. The Sami language is part of the Finno-Ugric family, related to Finnish but not to Norwegian and kin, however due to prolonged contact with the Scandinavians, there is a large number of Germanic words in Sami.
Music
Main article: Sami music
One very interesting Sami tradition is the singing of joik (not to be confused with the call yoicks used in fox hunting). Joiks are traditionally sung a capella, usually sung slowly and deep in the throat with apparent emotional content of sorrow or anger. Christian missionaries and priests regarded these as "songs of the Devil". In recent years, musical instruments frequently accompany joiks.
Related articles
- Sami music
- Sami Parliament a Swedish Government Agency
- Sami School Board of Sweden
- Northern indigenous peoples of Russia
- Germania (book) by Tacitus
- Lars Levi Laestadius, sciencist and preacher, who studied Sami culture