Sámi people

The Sámi refer to themselves as Sámit (the Sámis) or Sápmelaš (of Sámi kin), the word Sámi being inflected into various grammatical forms. As of around 2014, the current consensus among specialists was that the word Sámi was borrowed from the Proto-Baltic word *žēmē, meaning 'land' (cognate with Slavic zemlja (земля), of the same meaning).[12][13][14]

The word Sámi has at least one cognate word in Finnish: Proto-Baltic *žēmē was also borrowed into Proto-Finnic, as *šämä. This word became modern Finnish Häme (Finnish for the region of Tavastia; the second ä of *šämä is still found in the adjective Hämäläinen). The Finnish word for Finland, Suomi, is also thought probably to derive ultimately from Proto-Baltic *žēmē, though the precise route is debated and proposals usually involve complex processes of borrowing and reborrowing. Suomi and its adjectival form suomalainen must come from *sōme-/sōma-. In one proposal, this Finnish word comes from a Proto-Germanic word *sōma-, itself from Proto-Baltic *sāma-, in turn borrowed from Proto-Finnic *šämä, which was borrowed from *žēmē.[12]

The Sámi institutions – notably the parliaments, radio and TV stations, theatres, etc. – all use the term Sámi, including when addressing outsiders in Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, or English. In Norwegian, the Sámi are today referred to by the Norwegianized form Same.

The first probable historical mention of the Sámi, naming them Fenni, was by Tacitus, about AD 98.[15] Variants of Finn or Fenni were in wide use in ancient times, judging from the names Fenni and Φίννοι (Phinnoi) in classical Roman and Greek works. Finn (or variants, such as skridfinn, 'striding Finn') was the name originally used by Norse speakers (and their proto-Norse speaking ancestors) to refer to the Sámi, as attested in the Icelandic Eddas and Norse sagas (11th to 14th centuries).

The etymology is somewhat uncertain,[16] but the consensus seems to be that it is related to Old Norse finna, from proto-Germanic *finþanan ('to find'), the logic being that the Sámi, as hunter-gatherers "found" their food, rather than grew it.[12][17] This etymology has superseded older speculations that the word might be related to fen.[18]

As Old Norse gradually developed into the separate Scandinavian languages, Swedes apparently took to using Finn to refer to inhabitants of what is now Finland, while the Sámi came to be called Lapps. In Norway, however, Sámi were still called Finns at least until the modern era (reflected in toponyms like Finnmark, Finnsnes, Finnfjord and Finnøy), and some northern Norwegians will still occasionally use Finn to refer to Sámi people, although the Sámi themselves now consider this to be an inappropriate term. Finnish immigrants to Northern Norway in the 18th and 19th centuries were referred to as Kvens to distinguish them from the Sámi "Finns". Ethnic Finns (Suomi) are a distinct group from Sámi.

Aleksander Lauréus's painting of the Sámi by the fire

The word Lapp can be traced to Old Swedish lapper, Icelandic lappir (plural) of Finnish origin; compare Finnish lappalainen "Lapp", Lappi "Lapland" (possibly meaning "wilderness in the north"), the original meaning being unknown.[19][20][21] It is unknown how the word Lapp came into the Norse language, but one of the first written mentions of the term is in the Gesta Danorum by the twelfth-century Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus, who referred to 'the two Lappias', although he still referred to the Sámi as (Skrid-)Finns.[22][23] In fact, Saxo never explicitly connects the Sámi with the "two Laplands". The term "Lapp" was popularized and became the standard terminology by the work of Johannes Schefferus, Acta Lapponica (1673).

The Sámi are often known in other languages by the exonyms Lap, Lapp, or Laplanders, although these are considered derogatory terms,[24][25][26] while others accept at least the name Lappland.[27] Variants of the name Lapp were originally used in Sweden and Finland and, through Swedish, adopted by many major European languages: English: Lapps; German, Dutch: Lappen; French: Lapons; Greek: Λάπωνες (Lápōnes); Hungarian: lappok; Italian: Lapponi; Polish: Lapończycy; Portuguese: Lapões; Spanish: Lapones; Romanian: laponi; Turkish: Lapon. In Russian the corresponding term is лопари́ (lopari) and in Ukrainian лопарі́ (lopari).

In Finland and Sweden, Lapp is common in place names, such as Lappi (Satakunta), Lappeenranta (South Karelia) and Lapinlahti (North Savo) in Finland; and Lapp (Stockholm County), Lappe (Södermanland) and Lappabo (Småland) in Sweden. As already mentioned, Finn is a common element in Norwegian (particularly Northern Norwegian) place names, whereas Lapp is exceedingly rare.

Terminological issues in Finnish are somewhat different. Finns living in Finnish Lapland generally call themselves lappilainen, whereas the similar word for the Sámi people is lappalainen. This can be confusing for foreign visitors because of the similar lives Finns and Sámi people live today in Lapland. Lappalainen is also a common family name in Finland. In Finnish, saamelainen is the most commonly used word nowadays, especially in official contexts.

The Sámi have a complex relationship to the Scandinavians, the dominating peoples of Scandinavia who speak Scandinavian languages and who founded and thus dominated the kingdoms of Norway and Sweden in which most Sámi people live. While the Sámi have lived in Fennoscandia for around 3,500 years, Sámi settlement of Scandinavia does not predate Scandinavian settlement of Scandinavia, as sometimes popularly assumed. Scandinavians and their ancestors lived primarily in southern Scandinavia for millennia before the arrival on the peninsula of the Sámi from the Finno-Ugric homeland.[32] For centuries the Sámi and the Scandinavians had relatively little contact; the Sámi primarily lived in the inland of northern Fennoscandia, while Scandinavians lived in southern Scandinavia and gradually colonised the Norwegian coast; from the 18th and especially the 19th century Norway and Sweden started to assert sovereignty more aggressively in the north, and targeted the Sámi with policies aimed at forced assimilation. Before forced assimilation policies were adopted, the Norwegian and Swedish had largely ignored the Sámi and not interfered much in their way of life. From the 19th century Norwegian and Swedish authorities started to regard the Sámi as a "backward" and "primitive" people in need of being "civilized".[33][34]

A Sámi man and child in Finnmark, Norway, circa 1900

How far south the Sámi extended in the past has been debated among historians and archeologists for many years. The Norwegian historian Yngvar Nielsen, commissioned by the Norwegian government in 1889 to determine this question to settle contemporary questions of Sámi land rights, concluded that the Sámi had lived no farther south than Lierne in Nord-Trøndelag county until around 1500, when they started moving south, reaching the area around Lake Femund in the 18th century.[35] This hypothesis is still accepted among many historians, but has been the subject of scholarly debate in the 21st century. In recent years, several archaeological finds indicate a Sámi presence in southern Norway in the Middle Ages, and southern Sweden,[36] including finds in Lesja, in Vang, in Valdres and in Hol and Ål in Hallingdal.[37] Proponents of the Sámi interpretations of these finds assume a mixed population of Norse and Sámi people in the mountainous areas of southern Norway in the Middle Ages.[38]

Sámi people in Norway, 1928

Until the arrival of bubonic plague in northern Norway in 1349, the Sámi and the Norwegians occupied very separate economic niches.[39] The Sámi hunted reindeer and fished for their livelihood. The Norwegians, who were concentrated on the outer islands and near the mouths of the fjords, had access to the major European trade routes so that, in addition to marginal farming in the Nordland, Troms, and Finnmark counties, they were able to establish commerce, supplying fish in trade for products from the south.[40] The two groups co-existed using two different food resources.[40] According to old Nordic texts, the Sea Sámi and the Mountain Sámi are two classes of the same people and not two different ethnic groups, as had been erroneously believed.[41]

This social economic balance greatly changed when bubonic plague came to northern Norway in December 1349. The Norwegians were closely connected to the greater European trade routes, along which the plague traveled; consequently, they were infected and died at a far higher rate than Sámi in the interior. Of all the states in the region, Norway suffered the most from this plague.[42] Depending on the parish, sixty to seventy-six percent of the northern Norwegian farms were abandoned following the plague,[43] while land-rents, another possible measure of the population numbers, dropped down to 9–28% of pre-plague rents.[44] Although the population of northern Norway is sparse compared to southern Europe, the disease spread just as fast.[45] The method of movement of the plague-infested flea (Xenopsylla cheopsis) from the south was in wooden barrels holding wheat, rye, or wool, where the fleas could live, and even reproduce, for several months at a time.[46] The Sámi ate fish and reindeer meat, and did not eat wheat or rye. They lived in communities detached from the Norwegians, and being only weakly connected to the European trade routes, they fared far better than the Norwegians.[47]

A Sea Sámi man from Norway by Prince Roland Bonaparte in 1884

A Sea Sámi man from Norway by Prince Roland Bonaparte in 1884

Fishing has always been the main livelihood for the many Sámi living permanently in coastal areas.[48] Archeological research shows that the Sámi have lived along the coast and once lived much farther south in the past, and they were also involved in work other than reindeer herding (e.g., fishing, agriculture, iron work).[36] The fishing along the north Norwegian coast, especially in the Lofoten and Vesterålen islands, is quite productive with a variety of fish, and during medieval times, it was a major source of income for both the fisherman and the Norwegian monarchy.[49] With such massive population drops caused by the Black Death, the tax revenues from this industry greatly diminished. Because of the huge economic profits that could be had from these fisheries, the local authorities offered incentives to the Sámi—faced with their own population pressures—to settle on the newly vacant farms.[50] This started the economic division between the Sea Sámi (sjøsamene), who fished extensively off the coast, and the Mountain Sámi (fjellsamene, innlandssamene), who continued to hunt reindeer and small-game animals. They later herded reindeer. Even as late as the early 18th century, there were many Sámi who were still settling on these farms left abandoned from the 1350s.[51][52] After many years of continuous migration, these Sea Sámi became far more numerous than the reindeer mountain Sámi, who today only make up 10% of all Sámi. In contemporary times, there are also ongoing consultations between the Government of Norway and the Sámi Parliament regarding the right of the coastal Sámi to fish in the seas on the basis of historical use and international law.[53] State regulation of sea fisheries underwent drastic change in the late 1980s. The regulation linked quotas to vessels and not to fishers. These newly calculated quotas were distributed free of charge to larger vessels on the basis of the amount of the catch in previous years, resulting in small vessels in Sámi districts falling outside the new quota system to a large degree.[48][54]

As the Sea Sámi settled along Norway's fjords and inland waterways, pursuing a combination of farming, cattle raising, trapping and fishing, the minority Mountain Sámi continued to hunt wild reindeer. Around 1500, they started to tame these animals into herding groups, becoming the well-known reindeer nomads, often portrayed by outsiders as following the traditional Sámi lifestyle. The Mountain Sámi had to pay taxes to three states, Norway, Sweden and Russia, as they crossed each border while following the annual reindeer migrations; this caused much resentment over the years.[55] Between 1635–1659, the Swedish crown forced Swedish conscripts and Sámi cart drivers to work at a mine at Nasafjäll, causing many Sámis to emigrate from the area to avoid forced labour. As a result, the population of Pite and Lule Sámis decreased greatly.[55]

For long periods of time, the Sámi lifestyle thrived because of its adaptation to the Arctic environment. Indeed, throughout the 18th century, as Norwegians of Northern Norway suffered from low fish prices and consequent depopulation, the Sámi cultural element was strengthened, since the Sámi were mostly independent of supplies from Southern Norway.

During the 19th century, the pressure of Christianization of the Sámi increased, with some Sámi adopting Laestadianism. With the introduction of seven compulsory years of school in 1889, the Sámi language and traditional way of life came increasingly under pressure from forced cultural normalization. Strong economic development of the north also ensued, giving Norwegian culture and language higher status.

On the Swedish and Finnish sides, the authorities were less militant, although the Sámi language was forbidden in schools and strong economic development in the north led to weakened cultural and economic status for the Sámi. From 1913 to 1920, the Swedish race-segregation political movement created a race-based biological institute that collected research material from living people and graves. Throughout history, Swedish settlers were encouraged to move to the northern regions through incentives such as land and water rights, tax allowances, and military exemptions.[56]

The strongest pressure took place from around 1900 to 1940, when Norway invested considerable money and effort to wipe out Sámi culture. Anyone who wanted to buy or lease state lands for agriculture in Finnmark had to prove knowledge of the Norwegian language and had to register with a Norwegian name. This caused the dislocation of Sámi people in the 1920s, which increased the gap between local Sámi groups (something still present today) that sometimes has the character of an internal Sámi ethnic conflict. In 1913, the Norwegian parliament passed a bill on "native act land" to allocate the best and most useful lands to Norwegian settlers. Another factor was the scorched earth policy conducted by the German army, resulting in heavy war destruction in northern Finland and northern Norway in 1944–45, destroying all existing houses, or kota, and visible traces of Sámi culture. After World War II, the pressure was relaxed, though the legacy was evident into recent times, such as the 1970s law limiting the size of any house Sámi people were allowed to build.

The controversy over the construction of the hydro-electric power station in Alta in 1979 brought Sámi rights onto the political agenda. In August 1986, the national anthem ("Sámi soga lávlla") and flag (Sámi flag) of the Sámi people were created. In 1989, the first Sámi parliament in Norway was elected. In 2005, the Finnmark Act was passed in the Norwegian parliament giving the Sámi parliament and the Finnmark Provincial council a joint responsibility of administering the land areas previously considered state property. These areas (96% of the provincial area), which have always been used primarily by the Sámi, now belong officially to the people of the province, whether Sámi or Norwegian, and not to the Norwegian state.

The indigenous Sámi population is a mostly urbanised demographic, but a substantial number live in villages in the high arctic. The Sámi are still coping with the cultural consequences of language and culture loss related to generations of Sámi children taken to missionary and/or state-run boarding schools and the legacy of laws that were created to deny the Sámi rights (e.g., to their beliefs, language, land and to the practice of traditional livelihoods). The Sámi are experiencing cultural and environmental threats,[57] including oil exploration, mining, dam building, logging, climate change, military bombing ranges, tourism and commercial development.

Vindelfjällen

Sapmi is rich in precious metals, oil, and natural gas. Mining activities in Arctic Sapmi cause controversy when they are in grazing and calving areas. Mining projects are rejected by the Sámi Parliament in the Finnmark area. The Sámi Parliament demands that resources and mineral exploration should benefit mainly the local Sámi communities and population, as the proposed mines are in Sámi lands and will affect their ability to maintain their traditional livelihood.[58] Mining locations even include ancient Sámi spaces that are designated as ecologically protected areas, such as the Vindelfjällen Nature Reserve.[59] In Russia's Kola Peninsula, vast areas have already been destroyed by mining and smelting activities, and further development is imminent. This includes oil and natural gas exploration in the Barents Sea. There is a gas pipeline that stretches across the Kola Peninsula. Oil spills affect fishing and the construction of roads. Power lines may cut off access to reindeer calving grounds and sacred sites.[60]

In Kallak (Sámi: Gállok) a group of indigenous and non-indigenous activists protested to stop the UK-based mining company Beowulf from carrying on a drilling program in reindeer winter grazing lands.[61] There is often local opposition to new mining projects where environmental impacts are perceived to be very large. New modern mines eliminate the need for many types of jobs and new job creation.[62] ILO Convention No. 169 would grant rights to the Sámi people to their land and give them power in matters that affect their future.[63] Swedish taxes on minerals are low in an international comparison in order to increase mineral exploration. There are also few plans for mine reclamation.

In northern Finland, there has been a longstanding dispute over the destruction of forests, which prevents reindeer from migrating between seasonal feeding grounds and destroys supplies of lichen that grow on the upper branches of older trees. This lichen is the reindeer's only source of sustenance during the winter months, when snow is deep. The logging has been under the control of the state-run forest system.[64] Greenpeace, reindeer herders, and Sámi organisations carried out a historic joint campaign, and in 2010, Sámi reindeer herders won some time as a result of these court cases. Industrial logging has now been pushed back from the most important forest areas either permanently or for the next 20 years, though there are still threats, such as mining and construction plans of holiday resorts on the protected shorelines of Lake Inari.[65]

Government authorities and NATO have built bombing-practice ranges in Sámi areas in northern Norway and Sweden. These regions have served as reindeer calving and summer grounds for thousands of years, and contain many ancient Sámi sacred sites.[66][67]

Suorvajaure near Piteå

The Swedish government has allowed the world's largest onshore wind farm to be built in Piteå, in the Arctic region where the Eastern Kikkejaure village has its winter reindeer pastures. The wind farm will consist of more than 1,000 wind turbines and an extensive road infrastructure, which means that the feasibility of using the area for winter grazing in practice is impossible. Sweden has received strong international criticism, including by the UN Racial Discrimination Committee and the Human Rights Committee, that Sweden violates Sámi landrättigheter (land rights), including by not regulating industry. In Norway some Sámi politicians (for example – Aili Keskitalo) suggest giving the Sámi Parliament a special veto right on planned mining projects.[68]

State regulation of sea fisheries underwent drastic change in the late 1980s. The regulation linked quotas to vessels and not to fishers. These newly calculated quotas were distributed free of cost to larger vessels on the basis of the amount of the catch in previous years, resulting in small vessels in Sámi districts falling outside the new quota system to a large degree.

The Sámi recently stopped a water-prospecting venture that threatened to turn an ancient sacred site and natural spring called Suttesaja into a large-scale water-bottling plant for the world market—without notification or consultation with the local Sámi people, who make up 70 percent of the population. The Finnish National Board of Antiquities has registered the area as a heritage site of cultural and historical significance, and the stream itself is part of the Deatnu/Tana watershed, which is home to Europe's largest salmon river, an important source of Sámi livelihood.[69]

In Norway, government plans for the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in the Alta river in Finnmark in northern Norway led to a political controversy and the rallying of the Sámi popular movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a result, the opposition in the Alta controversy brought attention to not only environmental issues but also the issue of Sámi rights.

Sámi man from Norway

Reindeer have major cultural and economic significance for indigenous peoples of the North. The human-ecological systems in the North, like reindeer pastoralism, are sensitive to change, perhaps more than in virtually any other region of the globe, due in part to the variability of the Arctic climate and ecosystem and the characteristic ways of life of indigenous Arctic peoples.[70]

The 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster caused nuclear fallout in the sensitive Arctic ecosystems and poisoned fish, meat[71] and berries. Lichens and mosses are two of the main forms of vegetation in the Arctic and are highly susceptible to airborne pollutants and heavy metals. Since many do not have roots, they absorb nutrients, and toxic compounds, through their leaves. The lichens accumulated airborne radiation, and 73,000 reindeer had to be killed as "unfit" for human consumption in Sweden alone. The government promised Sámi indemnification, which was not acted upon by government.

Radioactive wastes and spent nuclear fuel have been stored in the waters off the Kola Peninsula, including locations that are only "two kilometers" from places where Sámi live. There are a minimum of five "dumps" where spent nuclear fuel and other radioactive waste are being deposited in the Kola Peninsula, often with little concern for the surrounding environment or population.[72]

The tourism industry in Finland has been criticized for turning Sámi culture into a marketing tool by promoting opportunities to experience "authentic" Sámi ceremonies and lifestyle. At many tourist locales, non-Sámi dress in inaccurate replicas of Sámi traditional clothing, and gift shops sell crude reproductions of Sámi handicraft. One popular "ceremony", crossing the Arctic Circle, actually has no significance in Sámi spirituality. To the Sámi, this is an insulting display of cultural exploitation.[73]

Sámi Parliament of Norway

The Sámi have been recognized as an indigenous people in Norway (1990 according to ILO convention 169 as described below), and therefore, according to international law, the Sámi people in Norway are entitled special protection and rights. The legal foundation of the Sámi policy is:[82]

• Article 110a of the Norwegian Constitution.
• The Sámi Act (act of 12 June 1987 No. 56 concerning the Sámi Parliament (the Sámediggi) and other legal matters pertaining to the Sámis).

The constitutional amendment states: "It is the responsibility of the authorities of the State to create conditions enabling the Sámi people to preserve and develop its language, culture and way of life." This provides a legal and political protection of the Sámi language, culture and society. In addition the "amendment implies a legal, political and moral obligation for Norwegian authorities to create an environment conducive to the Sámis themselves influencing on the development of the Sámi community" (ibid.).

The Sámi Act provides special rights for the Sámi people (ibid.):

• "... the Sámis shall have their own national Sámi Parliament elected by and amongst the Sámis" (Chapter 1–2).
• The Sámi people shall decide the area of activity of the Norwegian Sámi Parliament.
• The Sámi and Norwegian languages have equal standing in Norway (section 15; Chapter 3 contains details with regards to the use of the Sámi language).

Mountain landscape in Kvalsund near Hammerfest

In addition, the Sámi have special rights to reindeer husbandry.

The Norwegian Sámi Parliament also elects 50% of the members to the board of the Finnmark Estate, which controls 95% of the land in the county of Finnmark.

Norway has also accepted international conventions, declarations and agreements applicable to the Sámi as a minority and indigenous people including:[83]

• The International Covenant on Civil and Political Right (1966). Article 27 protects minorities, and indigenous peoples, against discrimination: "In those states in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities, shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, or use their own language."
• ILO Convention No. 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries (1989). The convention states that rights for the indigenous peoples to land and natural resources are recognized as central for their material and cultural survival. In addition, indigenous peoples should be entitled to exercise control over, and manage, their own institutions, ways of life and economic development in order to maintain and develop their identities, languages and religions, within the framework of the states in which they live.
• The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965).
• The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989).
• The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979).
• The Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (1995).
• The Council of Europe's Charter for Regional and Minority Languages (1992).
• The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007).[84]

In 2007, the Norwegian Parliament passed the new Reindeer Herding Act acknowledging siida as the basic institution regarding land rights, organization, and daily herding management.[57]

Sámi Parliament in Sweden

The Sametingslag was established as the Swedish Sámi Parliament as of 1 January 1993. Sweden recognised the existence of the "Sámi nation" in 1989, but the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, C169 has not been adopted.

The Compulsory School Ordinance states that Sámi pupils are entitled to be taught in their native language; however, a municipality is only obliged to arrange mother-tongue teaching in Sámi if a suitable teacher is available and the pupil has a basic knowledge of Sámi.[85]

In 2010, after 15 years of negotiation, Laponiatjuottjudus, an association with Sámi majority control, will govern the UNESCO World Heritage Site Laponia. The reindeer-herding law will apply in the area as well.[86]

In 1998, Sweden formally apologized for the wrongs committed against the Sámi.

Sámi is one of five national minority languages recognized by Swedish law.[87]

Land near Ylläs

The act establishing the Finnish Sámi Parliament (Finnish: Saamelaiskäräjät) was passed on November 9, 1973. Finland recognized the Sámi as a "people" in 1995, but they have yet to ratify ILO Convention 169 Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples.

Finnish Lapland. The three northernmost municipalities Utsjoki, Inari and Enontekiö and part of Sodankylä are officially considered the Sámi area.

Finland ratified the 1966 U.N. Covenant on Civil and Political Rights though several cases have been brought before the U.N. Human Rights Committee. Of those, 36 cases involved a determination of the rights of individual Sámi in Finland and Sweden. The committee decisions clarify that Sámi are members of a minority within the meaning of Article 27 and that deprivation or erosion of their rights to practice traditional activities that are an essential element of their culture do come within the scope of Article 27.[88] The case of J. Lansman versus Finland concerned a challenge by Sámi reindeer herders in northern Finland to the Finnish Central Forestry Board's plans to approve logging and construction of roads in an area used by the herdsmen as winter pasture and spring calving grounds.[89]

Finland Sámi have had access to Sámi language instruction in some schools since the 1970s, and language rights were established in 1992. There are three Sámi languages spoken in Finland: North Sámi, Skolt Sámi and Inari Sámi. Of these languages, Inari Sámi, which is spoken by about 350 speakers, is the only one that is used entirely within the borders of Finland, mainly in the municipality of Inari.

Finland has denied any aboriginal rights or land rights to the Sámi people;[90] in Finland, non-Sámi can herd reindeer.

Sámi people have had very little representation in Finnish national politics. In fact, as of 2007, Janne Seurujärvi, a Finnish Centre Party representative, was the first Sámi ever to be elected to the Finnish Parliament.[91]

Kildin Sami Map (green). СААМИ is "Sámi" in Cyrillic

National Culture Center in Lovozero.

Russia has not adopted the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, C169. During the Soviet times the inhabitants of the Kola tundra were forcibly relocated to kolkhoz'es (collective communities) by the state;[92] most Saami were settled at Lujávri (Lovozero).

The 1822 Statute of Administration of Non-Russians in Siberia asserted state ownership over all the land in Siberia and then "granted" possessory rights to the natives.[89][93] Governance of indigenous groups, and especially collection of taxes from them, necessitated protection of indigenous peoples against exploitation by traders and settlers.[89]

The 1993 Constitution, Article 69 states, "The Russian Federation guarantees the rights of small indigenous peoples in accordance with the generally accepted principles and standards of international law and international treaties of the Russian Federation."[89][94] For the first time in Russia, the rights of indigenous minorities were established in the 1993 Constitution.[89]

The Russian Federation ratified the 1966 U.N. Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;[89] Section 2 explicitly forbids depriving a people of "its own means of subsistence."[89] The Russian parliament (Duma) has adopted partial measures to implement it.[89]

The Russian Federation lists distinct indigenous peoples as having special rights and protections under the Constitution and federal laws and decrees.[89][95] These rights are linked to the category known since Soviet times as the malochislennye narody ("small-numbered peoples"), a term that is often translated as "indigenous minorities", which include Arctic peoples such as the Sámi, Nenets, Evenki, and Chukchi.[89]

In April 1999, the Russian Duma passed a law that guarantees socio-economic and cultural development to all indigenous minorities, protecting traditional living places and acknowledging some form of limited ownership of territories that have traditionally been used for hunting, herding, fishing, and gathering activities. The law, however, does not anticipate the transfer of title in fee simply to indigenous minorities. The law does not recognize development rights, some proprietary rights including compensation for damage to the property, and limited exclusionary rights. It is not clear, however, whether protection of nature in the traditional places of inhabitation implies a right to exclude conflicting uses that are destructive to nature or whether they have the right to veto development.[89]

The Russian Federation's Land Code reinforces the rights of numerically small peoples ("indigenous minorities") to use places they inhabit and to continue traditional economic activities without being charged rent.[89][96] Such lands cannot be allocated for unrelated activities (which might include oil, gas, and mineral development or tourism) without the consent of the indigenous peoples. Furthermore, indigenous minorities and ethnic groups are allowed to use environmentally protected lands and lands set aside as nature preserves to engage in their traditional modes of land use.[89]

Regional law, Code of the Murmansk Oblast, calls on the organs of state power of the oblast to facilitate the native peoples of the Kola North, specifically naming the Sámi, "in realization of their rights for preservation and development of their native language, national culture, traditions and customs." The third section of Article 21 states: "In historically established areas of habitation, Sámi enjoy the rights for traditional use of nature and [traditional] activities."[89]

The port of Murmansk in the Kola Bay

Throughout the Russian North, indigenous and local people have difficulties with exercising control over resources upon which they and their ancestors have depended for centuries. The failure to protect indigenous ways, however, stems not from inadequacy of the written law, but rather from the failure to implement existing laws. Violations of the rights of indigenous peoples continue, and oil, gas, and mineral development and other activities, (mining, timber cutting, commercial fishing, and tourism) that bring foreign currency into the Russian economy.[89]

Chibini massif, Kola Peninsula

The life ways and economy of indigenous peoples of the Russian North are based upon reindeer herding, fishing, terrestrial and sea mammal hunting, and trapping. Many groups in the Russian Arctic are semi-nomadic, moving seasonally to different hunting and fishing camps. These groups depend upon different types of environment at differing times of the year, rather than upon exploiting a single commodity to exhaustion.[89][97] Throughout northwestern Siberia, oil and gas development has disturbed pastureland and undermined the ability of indigenous peoples to continue hunting, fishing, trapping, and herding activities. Roads constructed in connection with oil and gas exploration and development destroy and degrade pastureland,[98] ancestral burial grounds, and sacred sites and increase hunting by oil workers on the territory used by indigenous peoples.[99]

Krasnoshchelye village on the Ponoi River

In the Sámi homeland on the Kola Peninsula in northwestern Russia, regional authorities closed a fifty-mile (eighty-kilometer) stretch of the Ponoi River (and other rivers) to local fishing and granted exclusive fishing rights to a commercial company offering catch-and-release fishing to sport fishers largely from abroad.[100] This deprived the local Sámi (see Article 21 of the Code of the Murmansk Oblast) of food for their families and community and of their traditional economic livelihood. Thus, closing the fishery to locals may have violated the test articulated by the U.N. Human Rights Committee and disregarded the Land Code, other legislative acts, and the 1992 Presidential decree. Sámi are not only forbidden to fish in the eighty-kilometer stretch leased to the Ponoi River Company but are also required by regional laws to pay for licenses to catch a limited number of fish outside the lease area. Residents of remote communities have neither the power nor the resources to demand enforcement of their rights. Here and elsewhere in the circumpolar north, the failure to apply laws for the protection of indigenous peoples leads to "criminalization" of local indigenous populations who cannot survive without "poaching" resources that should be accessible to them legally.[89]

Although indigenous leaders in Russia have occasionally asserted indigenous rights to land and resources, to date there has been no serious or sustained discussion of indigenous group rights to ownership of land.[89]

On 16 November 2005 in Helsinki, a group of experts, led by former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Norway Professor Carsten Smith, submitted a proposal for a Nordic Sámi Convention to the annual joint meeting of the ministers responsible for Sámi affairs in Finland, Norway and Sweden and the presidents of the three Sámi Parliaments from the respective countries. This convention recognizes the Sámi as one indigenous people residing across national borders in all three countries. A set of minimum standards is proposed for the rights of developing the Sámi language and culture and rights to land and water, livelihoods and society.[101] The convention has not yet been ratified in the Nordic countries.[102]

Sámi knives

Beaded belt, knife, and antler needlecase

Sámi woman from Sweden

Duodji, the Sámi handicraft, originates from the time when the Sámis were self-supporting nomads, believing therefore that an object should first and foremost serve a purpose rather than being primarily decorative. Men mostly use wood, bone, and antlers to make items such as antler-handled scrimshawed sami knives, drums, and guksi (burl cups). Women used leather and roots to make items such as gákti (clothing), and birch- and spruce-root woven baskets.

Sámi hats

Gakti are the traditional clothing worn by the Sámi people. The gákti is worn both in ceremonial contexts and while working, particularly when herding reindeer.

Traditionally, the gákti was made from reindeer leather and sinews, but nowadays, it is more common to use wool, cotton, or silk. Women's gákti typically consist of a dress, a fringed shawl that is fastened with 1–3 silver brooches, and boots/shoes made of reindeer fur or leather. Sámi boots (or nutukas) can have pointed or curled toes and often have band-woven ankle wraps. Eastern Sámi boots have a rounded toe on reindeer-fur boots, lined with felt and with beaded details. There are different gákti for women and men; men's gákti have a shorter "jacket-skirt" than a women's long dress. Traditional gákti are most commonly in variations of red, blue, green, white, medium-brown tanned leather, or reindeer fur. In winter, there is the addition of a reindeer fur coat and leggings, and sometimes a poncho (luhkka) and rope/lasso.

The colours, patterns and the jewellery of the gákti indicate where a person is from, if a person is single or married, and sometimes can even be specific to their family. The collar, sleeves and hem usually have appliqués in the form of geometric shapes. Some regions have ribbonwork, others have tin embroidery, and some Eastern Sámi have beading on clothing or collar. Hats vary by sex, season, and region. They can be wool, leather, or fur. They can be embroidered, or in the East, they are more like a beaded cloth crown with a shawl. Some traditional shamanic headgear had animal hides, plaits, and feathers, particularly in East Sapmi.

The gákti can be worn with a belt; these are sometimes band-woven belts, woven, or beaded. Leather belts can have scrimshawed antler buttons, silver concho-like buttons, tassels, or brass/copper details such as rings. Belts can also have beaded leather pouches, antler needle cases, accessories for a fire, copper rings, amulets, and often a carved and/or scrimshawed antler handled knife. Some Eastern Sámi also have a hooded jumper (малиц) from reindeer skins with wool inside and above the knee boots.

Johan Turi's illustration of reindeer herding from his 1910 book Muitalus sámiid birra (An Account of the Sámi), the first book published in a Sámi language.

• There are short daily news bulletins in Northern Sámi on national TV in Norway, Sweden and Finland. Children's television shows in Sámi are also frequently made. There is also a radio station for Northern Sámi, which has some news programs in the other Sámi languages.
• A single daily newspaper is published in Northern Sámi, Ávvir,[103] along with a few magazines.
• There is a Sámi theatre, Beaivvaš, in Kautokeino on the Norwegian side, as well as in Kiruna on the Swedish side. Both tour the entire Sámi area with drama written by Sámi authors or international translations.
• A number of novels and poetry collections are published every year in Northern Sámi, and sometimes in the other Sámi languages as well. The largest Sámi publishing house is Davvi Girji.
• The first secular book published in a Sámi language was Johan Turi's Muitalus sámiid birra (An Account of the Sámi), released in 1910 with text in Northern Sámi and Danish.[104]

Sara Marielle Gaup at Riddu Riđđu

A characteristic feature of Sámi musical tradition is the singing of yoik. Yoiks are song-chants and are traditionally sung a cappella, usually sung slowly and deep in the throat with apparent emotional content of sorrow or anger. Yoiks can be dedicated to animals and birds in nature, special people or special occasions, and they can be joyous, sad or melancholic. They often are based on syllablic improvisation. In recent years, musical instruments frequently accompany yoiks. The only traditional Sámi instruments that were sometimes used to accompany yoik are the "fadno" flute (made from reed-like Angelica archangelica stems) and hand drums (frame drums and bowl drums).

• Education with Sámi as the first language is available in all four countries, and also outside the Sámi area.
• Sámi University College is located in Kautokeino. Sámi language is studied in several universities in all countries, most notably the University of Tromsø, which considers Sámi a mother tongue, not a foreign language.

• Numerous Sámi festivals throughout the Sápmi area celebrate different aspects of the Sámi culture. The best known on the Norwegian side is Riddu Riđđu, though there are others, such as Ijahis Idja in Inari. Among the most festive are the Easter festivals taking place in Kautokeino and Karasjok before the springtime reindeer migration to the coast. These festivals combine traditional culture with modern phenomena such as snowmobile races. They celebrated the new year known as Ođđajagemánnu.[105]

In addition to Duodji (Sámi handicraft), there is a developing area of contemporary Sámi visual art. Galleries such as Sámi Dáiddaguovddáš (Sami Center for Contemporary Art)[106] are being established.

For many years there was a misconception that the Sámi were the only Indigenous people without a dance tradition in the world. [107] Sámi dance companies have emerged such as Kompani Nomad. [108] A book about the "lost" Sámi dance tradition called Jakten på den försvunna samiska dansen was recently published by Umeå University's Centre for Sami Research (CeSam).[109] In the eastern areas of Sápmi the dance tradition has been more continuous and is continued by groups such as Johtti Kompani.[110]

Reindeer herding

Building in Ljungris, owned by the Sámi community and used especially for Reindeer calf marking in the summer.

Reindeer husbandry has been and still is an important aspect of Sámi culture. Traditionally the Sámi lived and worked in reindeer herding groups called siiddat, which consisted of several families and their herds. Members of the siidda helped each other with the management and husbandry of the herds.[111] During the years of forced assimilation, the areas in which reindeer herding was an important livelihood were among the few where the Sámi culture and language survived.

Today in Norway and Sweden, reindeer husbandry is legally protected as an exclusive Sámi livelihood, such that only persons of Sámi descent with a linkage to a reindeer herding family can own, and hence make a living off, reindeer. Presently, about 2,800 people are engaged in reindeer herding in Norway.[10] In Finland, reindeer husbandry is not exclusive and is practiced to a limited degree also by ethnic Finns. Legally, it is restricted to EU/EEA nationals resident in the area. In the north (Lapland), it plays a major role in the local economy, while its economic impact is lesser in the southern parts of the area (Province of Oulu).

Among the reindeer herders in Sámi villages, the women usually have a higher level of formal education in the area.[112]

The Sámi have traditionally played both card games and board games, but few Sámi games have survived, because Christian missionaries and Laestadianists considered such games sinful.[113] Only the rules of three Sámi board games have been preserved into modern times. Sáhkku is a running-fight board game where each player controls a set of soldiers (referred to as "women" and "men") that race across a board in a loop, attempting to eliminate the other player's soldiers. The game is related to South Scandinavian daldøs, Arabian tâb and Indian tablan.[114] Sáhkku differs from these games in several respects, most notably the addition of a piece – "the king" – that changes gameplay radically. Tablut is a pure strategy game in the tafl family. The game features "Swedes" and a "Swedish king" whose goal is to escape, and an army of "Muscovites" whose goal is to capture the king. Tablut is the only tafl game where a relatively intact set of rules have survived into our time. Hence, all modern versions of tafl (commonly called "Hnefatafl" and marketed exclusively as "Norse" or "Viking" games) are based on the Sámi game of tablut.[115] Dablot Prejjesne is a game related to alquerque which differs from most such games (e.g. draughts) by having pieces of three different ranks. The game's two sides are referred to as "Sámi" (king, prince, warriors) and "Finlenders" (landowners, landowner's son, farmers).[116]

Sámi people in Härjedalen (1790–1800), far south in the Sápmi area

Laponian area in Sápmi, UNESCO World Heritage Site

There is no official geographic definition for the boundaries of Sápmi. However, the following counties and provinces are usually included:

• Finnmark county in Norway
• Jämtland county in Sweden
• Lapland region in Finland
• Murmansk oblast in Russia
• Nord-Trøndelag county in Norway
• Nordland county in Norway
• Norrbotten county in Sweden
• Troms county in Norway
• Västerbotten county in Sweden

The municipalities of Gällivare, Jokkmokk and Arjeplog in Swedish Lappland were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996 as a "Laponian Area".

The Sami Domicile Area in Finland consists of the municipalities of Enontekiö, Utsjoki and Inari as well as a part of the municipality of Sodankylä.

Kanevka, Ponoy River, Russia's Lovozersky District

The following towns and villages have a significant Sámi population or host Sámi institutions (Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish or Russian name in parentheses):

• Aanaar, Anár, or Aanar (Inari), is the location of the Finnish Sámi Parliament, Sajos Sámi Cultural Centre, SAKK – Saamelaisalueen koulutuskeskus (Sámi Education Institute), Anarâškielâ servi (Inari Sámi Language Association), and the Inari Sámi Siida Museum.
• Aarborte (Hattfjelldal) is a southern Sámi center with a Southern Sámi-language school and a Sámi culture center.
• Árjepluovve (Arjeplog) is the Pite Saami center in Sweden.
• Deatnu (Tana) has a significant Sámi population.
• Divtasvuodna (Tysfjord) is a center for the Lule-Sámi population. The Árran Lule-Sámi center is located here.
• Gáivuotna (Kåfjord, Troms) is an important center for the Sea-Sámi culture. Each summer the Riddu Riđđu festival is held in Gáivuotna. The municipality has a Sámi-language center and hosts the Ája Sámi Center. The opposition against Sámi language and culture revitalization in Gáivuotna was infamous in the late 1990s and included Sámi-language road signs being shot to pieces repeatedly.[117]
• Giron (Kiruna), proposed seat of the Swedish Sámi Parliament.
• Guovdageaidnu (Kautokeino) is perhaps the cultural capital of the Sámi. About 90% of the population speaks Sámi. Several Sámi institutions are located in Kautokeino including: Beaivváš Sámi Theatre, a Sámi secondary school and reindeer-herding School, the Sámi University College, the Nordic Sámi Research Institute, the Sámi Language Board, the Resource Centre for the Rights of Indigenous People, and the International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry. In addition, several Sámi media are located in Kautokeino including the Sámi-language Áššu newspaper, and the DAT Sámi publishing house and record company. Kautokeino also hosts the, which includes the Sámi Grand Prix 2010 (Sámi Musicfestival) and the Reindeer Racing World Cup. The Kautokeino rebellion in 1852 is one of the few Sámi rebellions against the Norwegian government's oppression against the Sámi.
• Iänudâh, or Eanodat (Enontekiö).
• Jiellevárri, or Váhčir (Gällivare)

Ájtte Museum of the Sámi people, Jokkmokk

Log cabin in Utsjoki

• Jåhkåmåhkke (Jokkmokk) holds a Sámi market on the first weekend of every February and has a Sámi school for language and traditional knowledge called Samij Åhpadusguovdásj.
• Kárášjohka (Karasjok) is the seat of the Norwegian Sámi Parliament. Other important Sámi institutions are located in Kárášjohka, including NRK Sámi Radio, the Sámi Collections museum, the Sámi Art Centre, the Sámi Specialist Library, the Mid-Finnmark legal office, a child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient clinic – one of few on a national level approved for providing full specialist training. Other significant institutions include a Sámi Specialist Medical Centre, and the Sámi Health Research Institute.[118] In addition, the Sápmi cultural park is in the township, and the Sámi-language Min Áigi newspaper is published here.
• Leavdnja (Lakselv) in Porsáŋgu (Porsanger) municipality is the location of the Finnmark Estate and the Ságat Sámi newspaper. The Finnmarkseiendommen organization owns and manages about 95% of the land in Finnmark, and 50% of its board members are elected by the Norwegian Sámi Parliament.
• Луя̄ввьр (Lovozero)
• Staare (Östersund) is the center for the Southern Sámi people living in Sweden. It is the site for Gaaltije – centre for South Sámi culture – a living source of knowledge for South Sámi culture, history and business. Staare also hosts the Sámi Information Centre and one of the offices to the Sámi Parliament in Sweden.
• Njauddâm is the center for the Skolt Sámi of Norway, which have their own museum Äʹvv in the town.
• Ohcejohka (Utsjoki).
• Snåase (Snåsa) is a center for the Southern Sámi language and the only municipality in Norway where Southern Sámi is an official language. The Saemien Sijte Southern Sámi museum is located in Snåase.
• Unjárga (Nesseby) is an important center for the Sea Sámi culture. It is also the site for the Várjjat Sámi Museum and the Norwegian Sámi Parliament's department of culture and environment. The first Sámi to be elected into the Norwegian Parliament, Isak Saba, was born there.
• Árviesjávrrie (Arvidsjaur). New settlers from the south of Sweden didn't arrive until the second half of the 18th century. Because of that, Sámi tradition and culture has been well preserved. Sámi people living in the south of Norrbotten, Sweden, use the city for Reindeer herding during the summer. During winter they move the Reindeers to the coast, to Piteå.

E.W. Borg alphabet book, published in 1859 in Finnish-Inari Sámi

There is no single Sámi language, but a group of ten distinct Sámi languages. Six of these languages have their own written standards. The Sámi languages are relatively closely related, but not mutually intelligible; for instance, speakers of Southern Sámi cannot understand Northern Sámi. Especially earlier, these distinct languages were referred to as "dialects", but today, this is considered misleading due to the deep differences between the varieties. Most Sámi languages are spoken in several countries, because linguistic borders do not correspond to national borders.

All Sámi languages are at some degree of endangerment, ranging from what UNESCO defines as "definitely endangered" to "extinct".[124] This is due in part to historic laws prohibiting the use of Sámi languages in schools and at home in Sweden and Norway. Sámi languages, and Sámi song-chants, called yoiks, were illegal in Norway from 1773 until 1958. Then, access to Sámi instruction as part of schooling was not available until 1988. Special residential schools that would assimilate the Sámi into the dominant culture were established. These were originally run by missionaries, but later, controlled by the government. For example, in Russia, Sámi children were taken away when aged 1–2 and returned when aged 15–17 with no knowledge of their language and traditional communities. Not all Sámi viewed the schools negatively, and not all of the schools were brutal. However, being taken from home and prohibited from speaking Sámi has resulted in cultural alienation, loss of language, and lowered self-esteem.[125]

The Sámi languages belong to the Uralic language family, linguistically related to Finnish, Estonian, and Hungarian. Due to prolonged contact and import of items foreign to Sámi culture from neighboring Scandinavians, there are a number of Germanic loanwords in Sámi, particularly for "urban" objects. The majority of the Sámi now speak the majority languages of the countries they live in, i.e., Swedish, Russian, Finnish and Norwegian. Efforts are being made to further the use of Sámi languages among Sámi and persons of Sámi origin. Despite these changes, the legacy of cultural repression still exists. Many older Sámi still refuse to speak Sámi. In addition, Sámi parents still feel alienated from schools and hence do not participate as much as they could in shaping school curricula and policy.[126]

In Norway, the name of the language is samisk, and the name of the people is Same; in Finland, the name of the language is spelled saame and the name of the people saamelainen.

American scientist Michael E. Krauss published in 1997 an estimate of Sámi population and their languages.[127][128]

Geographic distribution of the Sámi languages:

1. Southern Sámi
2. Ume Sámi
3. Pite Sámi
4. Lule Sámi
5. Northern Sámi
6. Skolt Sámi
7. Inari Sámi
8. Kildin Sámi
9. Ter Sámi

Darkened area represents municipalities that recognize Sámi as an official language.

Kemi Sámi language became extinct in the 19th century.

Many Sámi do not speak any of the Sámi languages any more due to historical assimilation policies, so the number of Sámi living in each area is much higher.

Intelligence studies of Sámi have found them to score similarly to other Nordic populations.[130][131]

Sápmi is traditionally divided into:

• Eastern Sapmi (Inari, Skolt, Akkala, Kildin and Teri Sámi in Kola peninsula (Russia) and Inari (Finland, formerly also in eastern Norway)
• Northern Sápmi (Northern, Lule and Pite Sámi in most of northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland)
• Southern Sápmi (Ume and Southern Sámi in central parts of Sweden and Norway)

It should also be noted that many Sámi now live outside Sápmi, in large cities such as Oslo in Norway.

A division often used in Northern Sámi is based on occupation and the area of living. This division is also used in many historical texts:[132]

• Reindeer Sámi or Mountain Sámi (in Northern Sámi boazosapmelash or badjeolmmosh). Previously nomadic Sámi living as reindeer herders. Now most have a permanent residence in the Sámi core areas. Some 10% of Sámi practice reindeer herding, which is seen as a fundamental part of a Sámi culture and, in some parts of the Nordic countries, can be practiced by Sámis only.
• Sea Sámi (in Northern Sámi" mearasapmelash). These lived traditionally by combining fishing and small-scale farming. Today, often used for all Sámi from the coast regardless of their occupation.
• Forest Sámi who traditionally lived by combining fishing in inland rivers and lakes with small-scale reindeer-herding.
• City Sámi who are now probably the largest group of Sámi.

Sámi traditional presentation in Lovozero, Kola Peninsula, Russia

According to the Norwegian Sámi Parliament, the Sámi population of Norway is 40,000. If all people who speak Sámi or have a parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent who speaks or spoke Sámi are included, the number reaches 70,000. As of 2005, 12,538 people were registered to vote in the election for the Sámi Parliament in Norway. The bulk of the Sámi live in Finnmark and Northern Troms, but there are also Sámi populations in Southern Troms, Nordland and Trøndelag. Due to recent migration, it has also been claimed that Oslo is the municipality with the largest Sámi population. The Sámi are in a majority only in the municipalities of Guovdageaidnu-Kautokeino, Karasjohka-Karasjok, Porsanger, Deatnu-Tana and Unjargga-Nesseby in Finnmark, and Gáivuotna (Kåfjord) in Northern Troms. This area is also known as the Sámi core area. Sámi and Norwegian are equal as administrative languages in this area.

In Norway, Sweden and Finland Sámi are primarily Lutheran; Skolt Sámi of Finland and Sámi of Russia are primarily orthodox Christians.

According to the Swedish Sámi Parliament, the Sámi population of Sweden is about 20,000.

According to the Finnish Population Registry Center and the Finnish Sámi Parliament, the Sámi population living in Finland was 7,371 in 2003.[133] As of 31 December 2006, only 1776 of them had registered to speak one of the Sámi languages as the mother tongue.[134]

According to the 2002 census, the Sámi population of Russia was 1,991.

Since 1926, the number of identified Sámi in Russia has gradually increased:

• Census 1926: 1,720 (this number refers to the entire Soviet Union)
• Census 1939: 1,829
• Census 1959: 1,760
• Census 1970: 1,836
• Census 1979: 1,775
• Census 1989: 1,835
• Census 2002: 1,991

Reindeer in Alaska

There are an estimated 30,000 people living in North America who are either Sámi, or descendants of Sámi.[135] Most have settled in areas that are known to have Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish immigrants. Some of these concentrated areas are Minnesota, North Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Illinois, California, Washington, Utah and Alaska; and throughout Canada, including Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Northern Ontario, and the Canadian territories of the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and the territory now known as Nunavut.

Descendants of these Sámi immigrants typically know little of their heritage because their ancestors purposely hid their indigenous culture to avoid discrimination from the dominating Scandinavian or Nordic culture. Though some of these Sámi are diaspora that moved to North America in order to escape assimilation policies in their home countries. There were also several Sámi families that were brought to North America with herds of reindeer by the U.S. and Canadian governments as part of the "Reindeer Project" designed to teach the Inuit about reindeer herding.[136] There is a long history of Sámi in Alaska.

Some of these Sámi immigrants and descendants of immigrants are members of the Sami Siida of North America.

Sven-Roald Nystø, Aili Keskitalo and Ole Henrik Magga, the three first presidents of the Sámi Parliament of Norway.

The Sámi Parliaments (Sámediggi in Northern Sámi, Sämitigge in Inari Sámi, Sää'mte'ǧǧ in Skolt Sámi) founded in Finland (1973), Norway (1989) and Sweden (1993) are the representative bodies for peoples of Sámi heritage. Russia has not recognized the Sámi as a minority and, as a result, recognizes no Sámi parliament, even if the Sámi people there have formed an unrecognised Sámi Parliament of Russia. There is no single, unified Sámi parliament that spans across the Nordic countries. Rather, each of the aforementioned three countries has set up its own separate legislatures for Sámi people, even though the three Sámi Parliaments often work together on cross-border issues. In all three countries, they act as an institution of cultural autonomy for the indigenous Sámi people. The parliaments have very weak political influence, far from autonomy. They are formally public authorities, ruled by the Scandinavian governments, but have democratically elected parliamentarians, whose mission is to work for the Sámi people and culture. Candidates' election promises often get into conflict with the institutions' submission under their governments, but as authorities, they have some influence over the government.

The main organisations for Sámi representation in Norway are the siidas. They cover northern and central Norway.

The main organisations for Sámi representation in Sweden are the siidas. They cover northern and central Sweden.

In contrast to Norway and Sweden, in Finland, a siida (paliskunta in Finnish) is a reindeer-herding corporation that is not restricted by ethnicity. There are indeed some ethnic Finns who practice reindeer herding, and in principle, all residents of the reindeer herding area (most of Finnish Lapland and parts of Oulu province) who are citizens of EEA countries,[138] i.e., the European Union and Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, are allowed to join a paliskunta.

In 2010, the Sámi Council supported the establishment of a cultural center in Russia for Arctic peoples. The Center for Northern Peoples aims to promote artistic and cultural cooperation between the Arctic peoples of Russia and the Nordic countries, with particular focus on indigenous peoples and minorities.[139]

Land rights for grazing reindeer

Sápmi, the Sámi traditional lands, cross four national borders. Traditional summer and winter pastures sometimes lie on different sides of the borders of the nation-states. In addition to that, there is a border drawn for modern-day Sápmi. Some state that the rights (for reindeer herding and, in some parts, even for fishing and hunting) include not only modern Sápmi but areas that are beyond today's Sápmi that reflect older territories. Today's "borders" originate from the 14th to 16th centuries when land-owning conflicts occurred. The establishment of more stable dwelling places and larger towns originates from the 16th century and was performed for strategic defence and economic reasons, both by peoples from Sámi groups themselves and more southern immigrants.

Owning land within the borders or being a member of a siida (Sámi corporation) gives rights. A different law enacted in Sweden in the mid-1990s gave the right to anyone to fish and hunt in the region, something that was met with skepticism and anger amongst the siidas.

Court proceedings have been common throughout history, and the aim from the Sámi viewpoint is to reclaim territories used earlier in history. Due to a major defeat in 1996, one siida has introduced a sponsorship "Reindeer Godfather" concept to raise funds for further battles in courts. These "internal conflicts" are usually conflicts between non-Sámi land owners and reindeer owners. Cases question the Sámi ancient rights to reindeer pastures. In 2010, Sweden was criticized for its relations with the Sámi in the Universal Periodic Review conducted by the Working Group of the Human Rights Council.[140]

The question whether the fjeld's territory is owned by the governments (crown land) or by the Sámi population is not answered.[141]

From an indigenous perspective, people "belong to the land", the land does not belong to people, but this does not mean that hunters, herders, and fishing people do not know where the borders of their territories are located as well as those of their neighbors.[89]

Sámi flag

The Sámi flag was inaugurated during the Sámi Conference in Åre, Sweden, on 15 August 1986. It was the result of a competition for which many suggestions were entered. The winning design was submitted by the artist Astrid Båhl from Skibotn, Norway.

The motif (shown right) was derived from the shaman's drum and the poem "Päiven Pārne'" ("Sons of the Sun") by the South Sámi Anders Fjellner describing the Sámi as sons and daughters of the sun. The flag has the Sámi colours, red, green, yellow and blue, and the circle represents the sun (red) and the moon (blue).

The Sámi National Day falls on February 6 as this date was when the first Sámi congress was held in 1917 in Trondheim, Norway. This congress was the first time that Norwegian and Swedish Sámi came together across their national borders to work together to find solutions for common problems. The resolution for celebrating on 6 February was passed in 1992 at the 15th Sámi congress in Helsinki. Since 1993, Norway, Sweden and Finland have recognized February 6 as Sámi National Day.

"Sámi soga lávlla" ("Song of the Sámi People", lit. "Song of the Sámi Family") was originally a poem written by Isak Saba that was published in the newspaper Sagai Muittalægje for the first time on 1 April 1906. In August 1986, it became the national anthem of the Sámi. Arne Sørli set the poem to music, which was then approved at the 15th Sámi Conference in Helsinki in 1992. "Sámi soga lávlla" has been translated into all of the Sámi languages.

• Coats of Arms
• 
  Romsa ja Finnmárku
  (Norway)
• 
  Nordlánda
  (Norway)
• 
  Trøndelága
  (Norway)
• 
  Lapplánda
  (Sweden)
• 
  Norrbotten
  (Sweden)
• 
  Västerbottena
  (Sweden)
• 
  Jämtlándda
  (Sweden)
• 
  Härjedaelie
  (Sweden)
• 
  Lappi
  (Finland)
• 
  Murmánska
  (Russia)

Traditional Sámi religion was a type of polytheism. (See Sámi deities.) There was some diversity due to the wide area that is Sápmi, allowing for the evolution of variations in beliefs and practices between tribes. The old beliefs are closely connected to the land, animism, and the supernatural. Sámi spirituality is often characterized by pantheism, a strong emphasis on the importance of personal spirituality and its interconnectivity with one's own daily life, and a deep connection between the natural and spiritual "worlds".[142] Among other roles, the Sámi shaman, or noaidi, enabled ritual communication with the supernatural[143] through the use of tools such as drums, chants, sacred objects and fly agaric.[144][145] Some practices within the Old Sámi religion included natural sacred sites such as mountains, springs, land formations, as well as man-made ones such as petroglyphs and labyrinths.[146]

The Sámi cosmology divides the universe into three worlds. The upper world is related to the South, warmth, life, and the color white. It is also the dwelling of the gods. The middle world is like the Norse Midgard, it is the dwelling of humans and it is associated with the color red. The third world is the underworld and it is associated with the color black, it represents the north, the cold and it is inhabited by otters, loons, and seals and mythical animals.[147][148]

Sámi religion shared some elements with Norse mythology, possibly from early contacts with trading Vikings (or vice versa). Through a mainly French initiative from Joseph Paul Gaimard as part of his La Recherche Expedition, Lars Levi Læstadius began research on Sámi mythology. His work resulted in Fragments of Lappish Mythology, since by his own admission, they contained only a small percentage of what had existed. The fragments were termed Theory of Gods, Theory of Sacrifice, Theory of Prophecy, or short reports about rumorous Sami magic and Sami sagas. Generally, he claims to have filtered out the Norse influence and derived common elements between the South, North, and Eastern Sámi groups. The mythology has common elements with other traditional indigenous religions as well—such as those in Siberia and North America.

A sermon at the 2004 Samiske kirkedager

The term Sámi religion usually refers to the traditional religion, practiced by most Sámi until approximately the 18th century. Christianity was introduced by Roman Catholic missionaries as early as the 13th century. Increased pressure came after the Protestant Reformation, and rune drums were burned or sent to museums abroad. In this period, many Sámi practiced their traditional religion at home, while going to church on Sunday. Since the Sámi were considered to possess "witchcraft" powers, they were often accused of sorcery during the 17th century and were the subjects of witchcraft trials and burnings.[149]

In Norway, a major effort to convert the Sámi was made around 1720, when Thomas von Westen, the "Apostle of the Sámi", burned drums, burned sacred objects, and converted people.[150] Out of the estimated thousands of drums before this period, only about 70 are known to remain today, scattered in museums around Europe.[144] Sacred sites were destroyed, such as sieidi (stones in natural or human-built formations), álda and sáivu (sacred hills), springs, caves and other natural formations where offerings were made.

In the far east of the Sámi area, the Russian monk Trifon converted the Sámi in the 16th century. Today, St. George's chapel in Neiden, Norway (1565), testifies to this effort.

Noaidi drum

Around 1840 Swedish Sámi Lutheran pastor and administrator Lars Levi Laestadius initiated among the Sámi a puritanical pietist movement emphasizing complete abstinence from alcohol. This movement is still very dominant in Sámi-speaking areas. Laestadius spoke many languages, and he became fluent and preached in Finnish and Northern Sámi in addition to his native Southern Sámi and Swedish,[151] the language he used for scholarly publications.[150]

Two great challenges Laestadius had faced since his early days as a church minister were the indifference of his Sámi parishioners, who had been forced by the Swedish government to convert from their shamanistic religion to Lutheranism, and the misery caused them by alcoholism. The spiritual understanding Laestadius acquired and shared in his new sermons "filled with vivid metaphors from the lives of the Sámi that they could understand, ... about a God who cared about the lives of the people" had a profound positive effect on both problems. One account from a Sámi cultural perspective recalls a new desire among the Sámi to learn to read and a "bustle and energy in the church, with people confessing their sins, crying and praying for forgiveness ... [Alcohol abuse] and the theft of [the Sa`mis'] reindeer diminished, which had a positive influence on the Sámi's relationships, finances and family life."[152]

Today there are a number of Sámi who seek to return to the traditional Pagan values of their ancestors. There are also some Sámi who claim to be noaidi and offer their services through newspaper advertisements, in New Age arrangements, or for tourist groups. While they practice a religion based on that of their ancestors, widespread anti-pagan prejudice has caused these shamans to be generally not viewed as part of an unbroken Sámi religious tradition. Traditional Sámi beliefs are composed of three intertwining elements: animism, shamanism, and polytheism. Sámi animism is manifested in the Sámi's belief that all significant natural objects (such as animals, plants, rocks, etc.) possess a soul; and from a polytheistic perspective, traditional Sámi beliefs include a multitude of spirits.[150] Many contemporary practitioners are compared to practitioners of neo-paganism, as a number of neopagan religions likewise combine elements of ancient pagan religions with more recent revisions or innovations, but others feel they are attempting to revive or reconstruct indigenous Sámi religions as found in historic, folkloric sources and oral traditions.

In 2012, County Governor of Troms approved Shamanic Association of Tromsø as a new religion.[153]

A very different religious idea is represented by the numerous "wise men" and "wise women" found throughout the Sámi area. They often offer to heal the sick through rituals and traditional medicines and may also combine traditional elements, such as older Sámi teachings, with newer monotheistic inventions that Christian missionaries taught their ancestors, such as readings from the Bible.

Ad for an 1893/1894 ethnological exposition of Sámi in Hamburg-Saint Paul

The genetic makeup of Sámi people has been extensively studied for as long as such research has been in existence. Ethnographic photography of the Sámi began with the invention of the camera in the 19th century.[160] This continued on into the 1920s and 1930s, when Sámi were photographed naked and anatomically measured by scientists, with the help of the local police—sometimes at gunpoint—to collect data that would justify their own racial theories.[161] Thus, there is a degree of distrust by some in the Sámi community towards genetic research.[161]

Examples of discriminatory actions include the Statens Institut for Rasbiologi compulsory sterilization project for Sámi women, which continued until 1975, and Sámi graves being plundered to provide research materials,[162][163][164] of which their remains and artifacts from this period from across Sápmi can still be found in various state collections.[85][164][165][166] In the late 19th century, colonial fascination with Arctic peoples led to human beings exhibited in human zoos. Sámi people were exhibited with their traditional lavvu tents, weapons, and sleds, beside a group of reindeer at Tierpark Hagenbeck[167] and other zoos across the globe.

• Ante Aikio (born 1977), in Northern Sámi Luobbal Sámmol Sámmol Ánte, Finnish-Sámi linguist specializing in Uralic languages, historical linguistics, Sámi languages and Sámi prehistory at the Sámi University of Applied Sciences in Kautokeino, Norway.
• Louise Bäckman (1926–present) Born in Tärnaby, Ume sami speaker. Professor emeritus. She has carried out several studies that have given insights into the pre-Christian religion and has made important contributions in several other related fields.
• Inga Maria Mulk (1950–present) She has published several important papers on archaeology, historical geography, ethnographic studies etc., and is a Lule sami speaker.
• Israel Ruong (1903–1986) Born in Arjeplog. A Swedish-Sámi linguist, politician and professor of Sámi languages and culture at the University of Uppsala in Sweden. Israel Ruong spoke Pite Sámi as his mother tongue.
• Ande Somby (1958–present) Born in Buolbmat. A University Researcher, artist, cofounder of DAT.

• Samuel Balto (1861–1921), Arctic explorer—one of the first people to cross Greenland on skis (together with Nansen)—and gold miner. The very famous dog Balto was named after Samuel Balto.
• Lars Monsen (1963–present) adventurer, explorer, journalist and author.[168]

Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, a Sámi writer, musician and artist from Finland

• Ella Holm Bull (1929–2006), author, musician, schoolteacher.
• Anders Fjellner (1795–1876), Protestant priest and poet. Wrote down the mythological joik that inspired the Sámi flag.
• Ailo Gaup (1944–2014), an author and neo-shaman who participated in founding the Beaivváš Sámi Theatre.
• Isak Mikal Saba (1875–1925), politician and writer. Was the first Sámi parliamentarian (Norwegian Labour Party) and wrote the Sámi national anthem.
• Olaus Sirma (1655–1719), the first Sámi poet known by name.
• Johan Turi (1854–1936), wrote first secular book in Sámi.[169]
• Nils-Aslak Valkeapää (1943–2001), musician, poet and artist.
• Gladys Koski Holmes (1932–2005), a Sámi-American artist, writer, and poet. Holmes won poetry awards, published a children's book, and was the Sami Siida of North America's ambassador to the Siida art show at the NANA festival in Tromsø.[170][171]

Agnete Johnsen

• Ánde Somby, Sámi musician and law professor.
• Adjagas, musical group.
• Mari Boine (1956–present), musician.
• Ane Brun, singer and songwriter.[172]
• Fred Buljo (1988–present), rapper, singer, joik. Member of KEiiNO and Duolva Duottar.
• Frode Fjellheim, joik musician.
• Ingor Ánte Áilo Gaup (1960–present), actor, composer, and folk musician.
• Sofia Jannok (1982–present), performer, musician and radio host.
• Agnete Johnsen (1994–present), singer and songwriter.
• Inga Juuso (1945–2014), singer and actress.
• Gustav Kappfjell (1913–1999), Sámi joiker and artist. Also noted for being part of the resistance movement during WW2.
• John Persen (1941–2014), composer.
• Joni Mitchell (1943–present), musician and painter.[173][174]
• Jaco Pastorius (1951–1987), influential American jazz musician, composer and electric bass player.
• Roger Pontare (1951–present), musician.
• Wimme Saari (1959–present), musician.
• Lisa Cecilia Thomasson-Bosiö, or Lapp-Lisa (1878–1932), singer.
• Nils-Aslak Valkeapää (1943–2001), musician, poet and artist.
• Niko Valkeapää (1968–present), musician and songwriter.
• Mikkâl Morottaja (1984–present), rap musician.[175]
• Jonne Järvelä (1974–present), musician and songwriter.
• Ulla Pirttijärvi (1971–present), joik singer.
• The Blacksheeps, punk rock band.
• Øystein Aarseth, black metal musician.
• Berit Margrethe Oskal (1977–present), Sámi joiker and musician.
• Vajas, musical group.

Nils Gaup, a Sámi film director from Norway

Renée Zellweger, American actress

• Mikkel Gaup, actor.
• Nils Gaup (1955–present), film director. Well-known films include Ofelaš (Pathfinder), which was nominated for an Academy Award, and the 2008 film Kautokeino-Opprøret, based on the Kautokeino Rebellion.
• Sara Margrethe Oskal (born 1970), actress, film director
• Anni-Kristiina Juuso (1979–present), actress.
• Lene Cecilia Sparrok (1997), Norwegian actress of Sámi descent.
• Tommy Wirkola (1979), Norwegian filmmaker of Finnish Sámi descent.
• Jalmari Helander (1976), Finnish screenwriter and film director.
• Onni Tommila (1999), Finnish actor.
• Lance Henriksen (1940), actor of Norwegian parentage; his grandmother was Sámi.
• Renée Zellweger (1969), Oscar-winning actress whose Norwegian mother is of partial Sámi descent.
• Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Canadian filmmaker, Indigenous rights activist, and actress of Sámi and Blackfoot heritage, on her father's and mother's sides, respectively.[176] Works in multiple genres including experimental, documentary, drama, and action.[176]

• Lars Levi Laestadius (1800–61), religious reformer, botanist and ethnologist.[177]
• Ole Henrik Magga (1947–present), politician. The first President of the Norwegian Sámi Parliament (NSR) and first Chairman of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
• Nilla Lansman (1984–present), forester at INSEAD, the elite French business school
• Helga Pedersen (1973–present) politician. The first Sámi member of Government (Minister of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs, Norwegian Labour Party).[178]
• Elsa Laula Renberg (1877–1931), politician who among other things organized the first international Sámi conference.
• Isak Mikal Saba (1875–1925), politician and writer. Was the first Sámi parliamentarian (Norwegian Labour Party) and wrote the Sámi national anthem.
• Irja Seurujärvi-Kari (born 1947), politician and academic; member of the Finnish Sámi Parliament
• Janne Seurujärvi (1975–present), politician. The first Sámi member of Parliament of Finland.
• Laila Susanne Vars (1976–present), former Vice-President of the Sámi Parliament in Norway, first Sámi woman with a PhD in law, member of the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), rector of the Sámi University of Applied Sciences.

• Hans Ragnar Mathisen, artist.[179]
• Joni Mitchell (1943–present) musician and painter. Unconfirmed.[173][174]
• Nils-Aslak Valkeapää (1943–2001), musician, poet and artist.
• Elsa Bekkala (1946–present), Painter, educator.
• Simen Johan (1973–present), Visual Artist. Born in Kirkenes, Norway, lives and works in New York City

Anja Pärson a Sámi skier from Sweden

Börje Salming, a retired ice hockey defenceman.

• Leo Komarov (1987–present), Finnish Ice Hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Born in Estonia and raised in Finland and is of Russian-Sámi parentage.
• Ailo Gaup (1980–present), a motorcross sportsman who invented the "underflip".
• Morten Gamst Pedersen (1981–present), Football player (former player for Blackburn Rovers).[180]
• Börje Salming (1951–present), legendary NHL defenseman, member of Hockey Hall of Fame, voted to the IIHF all-century team.
• Anja Pärson (1981–present) and Jens Byggmark (1985–present), alpine skiers.[181]
• Jon Rønningen, wrestler. Olympic gold medalist.
• Lars Rønningen, wrestler.
• John Halvorsen, athletics

• Graan, the single noble family of Sámi descent (Swedish nobility).
• Svein-Eirik Utsi Famous criminal.
• Susanne Guttorm, 2018 Miss Norway

• Fourth World
• Inari
• Indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East
• Knud Leem
• Sami cuisine
• Ume Sámi language
• Sapmi Park – Located Karasjok, Norway, Sapmi Park[182] and visitor center presents the Sámi culture and its history through exhibits and a special effect theater presentation, entitled "The Magic Theater"[183] designed originally by award-winning experience designer Bob Rogers (designer) and the design team BRC Imagination Arts.[183]

• The White Reindeer (Valkoinen peura) (1952), a Finnish horror drama film set in Finnish Lapland, among the Sámi people.
• Pathfinder (Ofelaš) (1988), film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film; filmed in Norway featuring Sámi actors speaking in Sámi
• Give Us Our Skeletons, a 1999 documentary about the scientific racism and racial classification movement carried out on the Sámi
• The Cuckoo (Kukushka) (2002), film set during World War II with a Sámi woman as one of the main characters
• Last Yoik in Saami Forests? (2007), made for the United Nations, a documentary about land rights disputes in Finnish Lapland
• The Sami (Saamelainen) (2007), a Mushkeg Media documentary about the state of aboriginal languages
• Wolf (2008), an examination of how the traditions of the Sámi villagers in northern Sweden are confronted with modern-day society
• Herdswoman (2008), a documentary about land rights disputes in reindeer grazing areas
• The Kautokeino Rebellion (2008), feature film that concerns the ethnic-religious Sámi revolt in Guovdageaidnu of 1852
• Magic Mushrooms and Reindeer: Weird Nature (2009), short video on the use of Amanita muscaria mushrooms by the Sámi people and their reindeer, produced by the BBC[184]
• Suddenly Sami (2009), in which the filmmaker finds out that her mother has been hiding her Arctic indigenous Sámi heritage from her
• Midnight Sun (2016), crime series which revolves around Sámi culture and conflicts of Sámi culture with modern Swedish society
• Sami Blood (2016), a movie chronicling the life of a Sámi girl taken into a Swedish boarding school to be assimilated as a Swede[185]
• Frozen (2013 film), features a major character named Kristoff who wears clothing resembling Sámi attire and has a pet reindeer.
• Frozen II (2019), features the forest tribe known as the Northuldra, which is based on the Sámi people, and the theme song Vuelie, written by Norwegian yoiker Frode Fjellheim and performed by Norwegian female choral group Cantus, is based on Sámi music; there is a Sámi language dubbing of the film[186]
• Klaus (2019), animated film about "a postman stationed in a town to the North who befriends a reclusive toy-maker" featuring Sámi characters

• The Germania by Tacitus (the chapter on Fenni)
• Vigilant Ancestor: A World of Secrets Whispered in My Ear, by H. D. Rennerfeldt. ISBN 978-1-62675-021-0.
• The Sami Peoples of the North: A Social and Cultural History, by Neil Kent. ISBN 978-1-84904-257-4.
• The Sámi People: Traditions in Transitions, by Veli-Pekka Lehtola. ISBN 978-1-889963-75-4.
• God Wears Many Skins: Myth and Folklore of the Sami People, by Jabez L. Van Cleef. ISBN 978-1-4382-2189-2.
• Liberating Sápmi: Indigenous Resistance in Europe's Far North, by Gabriel Kuhn. ISBN 978-1-62963-712-9.