In English
Sami history
Since prehistoric times, long before the concept of national borders existed, the Sami people of arctic Europe lived and worked in an area that stretches over the regions now known as Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Russian Kola Peninsula. They have inhabited the northern arctic and sub-arctic regions of Fenno-Scandinavia and Russia for at least 5000 years. The Sami are counted among the arctic peoples and are members of circumpolar groups such as the Arctic Council Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat.
Petroglyphs and archeological findings such as settlements dating from about 10,000 B.C. can be found in the traditional lands of the Sami. The now obsolete term for the archaeological culture of these hunters and gatherers of the late Paleolithic and early Mesolithic is Komsa. A cultural continuity between these stone age people and the Sami can be assumed due to evidence such as the similarities in the decoration patterns of archeological bone objects and Sami decoration patterns, and there is no archeological evidence of this population being replaced by another.Recent archaeological discoveries in Finnish Lapland, was originally seen as the continental version of the culture Komsa about the same age as the earliest finds on the coast of Norway. It is hypothesized that the Komsa followed receding glaciers inland from the arctic coast at the end of the last ice age (between 11,000 and 8000 years. B.C.) as new land opened up for settlement (e.g., modern Finnmark area in the northeast, to the coast of the Kola Peninsula). Since the Sami are the earliest ethnic group in the area, they are consequently considered an indigenous population of the area.
Sápmi is the name of the cultural region traditionally inhabited by the Sami people. Non-Sami and many regional maps have often called this same region Lapland as there is considerable regional overlap between the two terms. Lapland can be either misleading, offensive, or both, depending on the context and where this word is used to the Sami. Among the Sami people Sápmi is strictly used and acceptable.
Sápmi is located in Northern Europe and includes the northern parts of Fennoscandia and spans four countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia.
Traditional Sami religion
Traditional Sami religion exhibited 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. Sami 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'. Among other roles, the Sami Shaman, or Noaidi, enabled ritual communication with the supernatural though the use of tools such as drums, chants, and sacred objects. Some practices within the Old Sami religion included natural sacred sites such as mountains, springs, land formations, as well as man-made ones such as petroglyphs and labyrinths.
Sami religion shared some elements with the 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 Sami 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 Sami groups. The mythology has common elements with other traditional indigenous religions as well — such as those in Siberia and North America.
...read more by wikipedia.
The Giehtta Daidu Company
I was born in the South Ostrobothnian town of Kurikka and trained in the field of trade and commerce which lead to 20 years of employment in financial administration in the Tampere Region. During my teen years I developed an interest in sawing and knitting and arts and crafts generally. Over the years I completed numerous projects with varying techniques and hand-made most of my own clothes.
In the north (town of Karigasniemi, where I moved in 2006) I discovered the Sami arts and crafts and was trained in courses organised by the Sami Education Institute, SAKK. Working with reindeer hide is particularly close to my heart. The passion for arts and crafts became a full-time employment in June 2010 with the establishment of the Giehtta Daidu business.
