Banner Header

The Sami People of Northern Europe

 Screenshot 13 people sami

Sámi, or Laplanders, have their own parliament.

Experience the Sami Culture

Viking

Viking
Fun fact: indigenous peoples does not mean (as i first thought) that one people lived there before others came. Take Sweden were Germanic peoples ancestors came to Sweden around 15 000 years ago and the Sami peoples came around 2500 years ago but the Sami peoples are still the indigenous peoples of Sweden. How? That depends on whom you ask because indigenous peoples means different things to different countries and different organisations. I just wanted to share this for those who like me thought that indigenous peoples was the first peoples in one place.
Alexander Ross
Alexander Ross
The sami aren't indigenous to Europe. People of the corded ware culture (Proto indo Europeans speaking people), and before them the Western Hunter gatherers (From which all Europeans descend), predate sami by thousands of years. The haplogroup common among sami, haplogroup N, is an Asian haplogroup which didn't even exist in Europe until 2000 years ago. Meanwhile, 4000 years ago, the people of the corded ware culture inhabited the Arctic regions of scandinavia, and their Haplogroup was R1a, typical of a European haplogroup. In fact, the land that the Sami claim was once inhabited by people who likely spoke the proto Indo European language.
 
 
 
 
Screenshot 1sami parm
 Sami Parliament
 
 
 The greatest part of Lapland is to be found in Norwegian territory. And it is in Karasjok that the Sámi, or Laplanders, have their own parliament. Beyond these frontiers, the Sámi identity lives on with a lifestyle that respects ancestral customs and is perfectly in harmony with a one-of-a-kind environment. The midnight sun and midday night, aurora borealis, animistic beliefs… the Pierre Brouwers film is an exciting journey across one of Europe’s wildest regions. With three shoots in three different seasons, this documentary is one of the most comprehensive ever made of Lapland. -
 
 unnaviellja
unnaviellja
To say you can "become Sámi" (2:48) by speaking our language, it not accurate in any way. You can never just become Sámi. To be registered with the Sámi parliament (Sámediggi) and vote in Sámi elections, you must have a parent or grandparent that spoke a Sámi language, and speak a Sámi language yourself and identify as culturally Sámi. There are people who self-identify as Sámi, but are not entitled to vote in Sámi parliamentary elections because of cultural erasure and ancestral shame. It's a tricky subject.
 
Read 3408 times Last modified on Monday, 17 May 2021 03:52
Tagged under
back to top