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The Sami are the indigenous people of northern Europe and live in
Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. The Sami were
divided between these four countries when these nation states were
created. Their ancestors had settled in the region before any other
people and today are considered an ethnic minority in their own land,
with their own religion, traditions, culture and language. They don’t
have their own state but look upon the region where they live as their
own and call it Sapmi or Samiednam. In 1996 the Sami Parliament
estimated around 80,000 Sami people live in their region, with the
majority, around 50,000 in Norway, 20,000 in Sweden, 4-5,000 in Finland
and 2,000 on the Kola peninsula.
The Sami people were originally called Lapps when, in the 13th
century Saxo Grammaticus wrote about Lappia (Lapland) in his Gesta
Danorum. In Norway, local people have called the Sami Finns or Fenni
as their traditional land is in the district of Finnmark in the north.
Today the official term in Sweden is Same instead of Lapp, but the
Swedes still haven’t recognised the Sami as indigenous people under the
International Labour Organisation Convention 169 (of 1989), mainly
because to do so would acknowledge the Sami ownership of traditional
land and waterways.
Neighbouring peoples have looked on Sapmi as a wasteland or wilderness
but the Sami have lived on their land for thousands of years, from the
time when the inland ice melted. They lived in harmony with the natural
environment and although they leave very discreet traces, traditional
sites can be found all over Sapmi. The first human traces in Sapmi are
along the northern coast of Norway and are around 11,000 years old, with
the first inland traces of human settlement dating to around 6,000 BC.
When the pine forests spread over the next 3,000 years, they became
habitat for abundant birds and game so humans followed. Fishing also
became a basis for settlement. The original settlers in Sapmi were
hunter-gatherers and every season had its best hunting and foraging
area.
Around 1500 BC the climate got colder, the pine forests receded and the
mountain birch forest spread. Reindeer moved between the summer pastures
in the mountains and the winter pastures in the forests, and where they
went, the people followed. The autumn hunt for reindeer formed the basis
of winter supplies. The whole community took part in preparing and
storing meat, creating hides, using every part of the carcass: the
sinews, antlers, and bones. Families could no longer do the work and
tribes or sijddas formed for join hunts. Each sijdda was
around ten families, with fishing waters and hunting grounds divided
between them. At this time the joint hunts gave more than the group
needed and the people began trading with foreigners. Objects similar to
those from Russia and Siberia, dating back to this period, have been
found.
By about 500AD reindeer had
become the people’s most important game and they specialised more and
more in hunting wild reindeer. Systems of pitfalls were dug along the
tree line and in the mountain valleys. People started taming reindeer to
use as decoys during the hunt, and for milking and transport. It wasn’t
until the 17th century, however, that the Sami people became
reindeer-herding nomads. At the beginning of the 17th
century, the Swedish state began taxing the Sami with reindeer skins and
dried fish. Dried fish was a necessity for them and the people could no
longer make a living just from hunting, gathering and fishing. They were
forced to keep herds of tame reindeer to survive and reindeer breeding
developed into their main source of income. The Sami village or
sijdda of today has its origin in the old sijdda community.
The most fundamental aspect of the Sami religion is its relationship to
nature, with the food from the sea and land provided by the power and
kindness of the Gods. Nature is believed to be animate. It is just as
important to keep well with the counsellors or spirits of nature as with
the people of the sijdda or community. The counsellors and gods
share their wealth with the humans and give away the animals, but can
also withhold game if the people break customs.
In the Sami conception of the world, three spheres exist: the heavenly,
the earthly and the infernal regions. Gods and godly creatures inhabit
all three. In the earthly world human beings and animals also live, and
in the infernal, the dead reside. In the heavenly realm live the highest
gods who had created the world: Radienahttje (also called Varaldarade,
Verelden-radien or Veralden-olmai) and his woman Radienahkka, and their
son. Radienahttje is the one who created the soul of the human child
that Radienahttje gave to Mattarahkka, the first ancestress.
Saivo is the Sami
region of the dead, where the deceased, called saivoolmak, lead
happy lives in the saivo world with their families and ancestors;
they build tents, hunt, fish, and in every way act as they did on earth.
In Norway the saivo world was thought to exist in the mountains,
whereas in Finland it was usually believed to be under special
double-bottomed lakes connected by a small hole. The saivo
localities were regarded as sacred and as sources of power that could be
used by the shaman, or noajdde. When the noajdde wished
to go into a trance, he would call to his aid his guardian spirits from
the saivo, the saivo-sarva, saivo-guolle, and
saivo-loddle, or the saivo-reindeer, saivo-fish, and
saivo-bird. The saivo is differentiated from the other
Sami otherworld, yabme-aimo, which, for example, was associated
with the sacrifice of black animals and was generally conceived as much
less pleasant.
In their religious ceremonies, the Sami people met the gods and showed
their respect through sacrifice: for the prosperity of the reindeer, for
good luck in hunting and fishing, for overcoming disease, and for
healthy pregnancy and delivery. The person who acted as intermediary
between the Sami and the gods is the shaman or noajdde. When the
people were christianised, the noajdde was the first person to be
victimised, together with his tool, the drum.
The noajdde was the
doctor, soothsayer and officiator at large sacrifices. He has been
elected by the spirits and his most important task was to keep contact
with the spiritual worlds, especially with the world of the dead. The
people turned to him in times of crisis such as famine or disease. To be
able to meet the powers of the other worlds, the noajdde went
into trance by yoiking and drumming. During trance the soul of the
noajdde could travel the other worlds and he could negotiate with
the gods or the deceased. The noajdde was assisted by his help
spirits: bird, reindeer bull, fish and snake. They were his guides and
protected him on his journeys. When someone was ill, the noajdde
needed to visit the world of the dead ancestors and the Sami believe the
sick person’s soul has been robbed by the dead. Often the dead relatives
had taken the soul. In the infernal region, the noajdde had to
negotiate with the Mistress of the Kingdom of the Dead, Jabbmeahkko,
about the soul of the sick person. On the promise of a sacrifice to the
dead or their Mistress, the noajdde was allowed to bring the
soul back and the sick person recovered. If he did not manage to bring
the soul back, the sick person died.
The noajdde is usually trained within the family, an ageing
noajdde training one of his or her relatives, starting shortly after
they reach puberty. This training continues for as long as the teacher
lives, but at one stage the pupil must demonstrate his or her skills for
a group of other noajdde, and prove that he or she is able to
command the powers. In Finland the term noajdde survives mainly
in the sense of an evil-working sorcerer, with another term, tietaja
applied to the specialist in beneficial mediation with the supernatural.
Different natural phenomena such as the sun, moon, thunder and wind, are
also regarded as divine. They are life-giving but also have their
negative side. The sun, Biejvve was a central goddess who gave life to
all creatures: light warmth and vegetation. The thunder, Horagalles or
Dierpmis gave rain, that which made the soil fertile. With his arrow, he
drove away bad spirits and trolls. The thunder could also be furious and
dangerous to people and animals. Horagalles was worshipped in order to
stop him from causing forest fires or hurting people or reindeer.
The goddesses of the home were the first ancestress Mattarahkka, and her
three daughters Sarahkka, Uksahkka and Juoksahkka. They live with humans
in their homes and have important tasks during pregnancy and delivery.
Sarahkka protects women during pregnancy and helps at delivery, and also
protects reindeer cows during calving. Sarahkka is the most beloved
among the gods and is worshipped by men and women. She is the protector
of the home and lives in the fireplace. The Sami sacrifice to Juoksahkka
if they want a baby boy, as they believe all foetuses are girls from the
beginning. Juoksahkka lives in the corner of the home where the drums
and hunting weapons are kept. Uksahkka receives the child at birth and
protects it when it takes its first steps. She lives under the door of
the home and protects the people as they walk in and out.
Veralden-radien (or Veralden-olmai - “Ruler of the
World”), is the deity believed by the Sami to be closest to the starry
heavens. Because the deity is associated with mailmen stytto, the
pillar supporting the heavens, he is also responsible for the continued
maintenance of life and is considered a fertility god. Veralden-radien
is believed to support all growth. The goddess of childbirth,
Madderakka, receives the souls of unborn children from
him, while he takes the souls of the departed down to yabme-aimo,
the realm of the dead. Veralden-radien was also the object of a phallic
cult; each autumn a bull reindeer was traditionally sacrificed to him,
then its genitalia were tied around his statue and the blood smeared
over the statue. The worship of Veralden-radien has many Scandinavian
features, which has led scholars to look for the god's origin among the
Germanic peoples. He is often mentioned in connection with the Swedish
deity Frey, and the Saxon world-supporting pillar Irminsul, which may
have influenced some of the mythological concepts of the Sami.
The gods of the wilderness rule over the natural environment and
hunting. The god of the hunt, Liejbbealmaj, rules the wild animals and
it is to him that the Sami sacrifice for good luck with hunting.
Tjahtjalmaj (The Waterman) rules the waters and lakes and brings good
luck at fishing.
The drum and the yoik are the noajdde’s most important tools in
contacting the gods. They use the drum partly to go into a trance,
partly to look into the future or at other worlds. In the 17th
and 18th centuries the missionaries believed the Sami people
could do conjuring tricks with their drums and called them “troll
drums”, a better name is ceremonial drum. For the Sami the drum was a
map of the worlds. They were decorated with pictures of creatures from
the different worlds including the gods and animals of the forest.
Settlements with cabins, houses and the village church might be drawn,
with the central motif often the sun.
In the Middle Ages, a time of intense collaboration between church and
state, the churches in the Nordic countries and Russia supported their
governments in the struggle to seize land and power. Each of the nation
states wanted to control the area of Sapmi/Samiednam and regarded it an
uninhabited. Churches were built all over the region, beginning in the
17th century, with the express goal of christianising the
“heathen” Sam. The people were forced to go to the churches at special
festivals to pay taxes, to be present at court, and to take part in
church services, education and examinations.
The Sami saw no advantage in being christianised and were persecuted
when they tried to maintain the old religion. This continued for
hundreds of years. Those who held onto their ancestral religion were
threatened with death, fines and prison. Sami sacred places were
desecrated and their ceremonial drums burned. The prohibition on
practising their religion and adopt christianity was a problem for the
Sami as it hindered their traditional life. They were forced to leave
their reindeer herds to attend church whereas the traditional ceremonies
could be practised wherever they were. The Sami Gods helped in daily
life both at home and when fishing, hunting and herding. The Christian
god was not considered to take part in daily life.
The Sami people reacted most strongly against the priests’ attack on
their relationship with the dead ancestors who were considered an
important part of the family. The ancestors were considered to take part
in the daily lives of the living, causing trouble, but also helping by
protecting their relatives or guarding the herds. Compelled to go to
Church, some Sami people adopted the christian faith, but many continued
secretly with the traditional ceremonies. Both religions coexisted for a
long time as the christian churches were few and far away, while the
Sami gods and rituals were close to the people. In the mid-19th
century a christian revival, Laedtadianism, swept across Sapmi and at
that time many Sami joined it.
In order to force the Sami to stop practising their rites and worship of
traditional gods, the church used informers. People had to defend
themselves in courts, and many were sentenced to death unless they
promised to stop their ceremonies and become christian. In 1692, Sami
shaman Lars Nilsen was put on trial for keeping his faith despite
“health warnings” from church and court. Men sent to Lars’ cabin by the
church found wooden statues, and Lars sitting and chanting a yoik (a
traditional song), and beating his drum. When the men attempted to take
his drum, Lars cursed them and said that his grandson would have to pay
with his life if he couldn’t fulfil his ceremonial task. He sacrifices
reindeer bones and antlers. He called on the God of Thunder to kill the
men sent to him. People from the next village came and helped defend
Lars’ drum.
When Lars Nilsen was finally taken to court he said that despite appeals
to the christian god to help his sick reindeer herd and increase it, it
was only when he appealed to the ancestor gods and used his shamanic
drum, that the reindeers got better and started breeding. He told the
court that he could not live without his ancestors’ faith and customs,
even if the authorities would forbid him. Lars was sentenced to death on
April 26, 1692, and was burned at the stake in 1693.
Because the clergy and missionaries believed the Sami worshipped the
devil during their ceremonies, they went to court to make them hand over
the drums. Threats of severe punishment forced the Sami to obey.
Hundreds of drums were collected and burned. Today there are around 70
original drums in different museums around Europe.
Because of the intense persecution, today, the great majority of the
Sami people are either Protestants, many of the particular kind called
Laestadianers, or they are Catholics. But some still honour their
ancient gods, and some shamans are still practising their ancient craft.
Resources
Books
Sami History by Sunna
Kuoljok, Sami Parliament, 1996. Email:
information@sametinget.se
The Sámi People: Traditions in Transition by
Veli-Pekka Lehtola; translated by Linna Weber Moor-Wille, University of
Alaska Press, 2005
The Sami of Northern Europe
(First Peoples series) by Deborah Robinson, publisher not known (ages
6-11)
The Sami, an indigenous people of the Arctic
by
Odd Mathis Hµtta, publisher
not known
Web sites
Wikipedia article:
http://www.answers.com/topic/sami-history
The Sami Parliament:
http://www.sametinget.se/
Sami literature on the WWW:
http://www.splq.info/issues/vol35_2/02.htm
Sacred Land Film Project:
http://www.sacredland.org/world_sites_pages/Sami.html
Music (Yoik)
* Wimme Saari, born in 1959 in Kelottijarvi in the
northwestern part of Finnish Samiland, is a modern yoik singer. Yoik is
traditional Sami music - an archaic mode of unaccompanied solo singing
which is uncannily similar to certain Native American music. It is found
all over the vast Samiland from the northern to central regions of
Norway, Sweden, Finland, and to the eastern tip of the Kola Peninsula in
Russia. There are three musical dialects in yoik. Wimme represents the
North Sami Luohti tradition, which is the most widely known genre of
Sami music. Luohti has two unique musical features: it makes use of a
pentatonic scale with no half tones and it always has a specific
subject, a person or an animal, which it describes in music. Read more
about him at:
http://music.sky-sea.net/official/wimme/biography.html
* Mari Boine (or Mari Boine Person) is
probably the best known Sami singer, worldwide, despite the fact that
yoik, the traditional Sami song form, is largely a male domain. Her
first CD Gula Gula (1992) is a fine example of contemporary joik. Find
an interview with her at:
http://www.rootsworld.com/scanfest/boine.html
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