Sami Jewelry and Ornaments
A look at the traditional jewelry and status symbols of Sami peoples.
Traditional Jewelry of the Sami Gakti
Like many nomadic people, the historic Sami concentrated their wealth in jewelry. Communities rarely produced their own metal. Instead, they traded with the Norse, Finns, and other neighbors for silver, brass, pewter, and fabrics. Their own lands and rivers provided abundant furs and pearls. The early Sami buried their dead with grave goods, thought to follow them to the afterlife. The Medieval hoards and gravesites they left behind show widespread trade and cultural exchange in the region.[1][2] At this time, women were typically buried with more wealth than men.[3]
High collars, low hats, and gloves protected their wearers from the cold, but they made displaying necklaces and earrings difficult. Instead, pieces were attached to the gakti tunic worn by both men and women. These items included rings, pendants, spheres, and buttons. The most ornate gakti featured dangling silver pendants along the collar. Women also embroidered outfits with pewter thread.[4][5] Both genders wore silver rings. Men carved knife sheaths from antler and sported silver plaques on their belts.[6][7]
Sami Woven Bands and Shawls
Besides metals, Sami people decorated their outfits with woven woollen bands and tassels. Their colors and patterns varied by region, woven on small hand-looms. They sometimes used pewter thread as well. While some served as belts and straps, others were sewn onto clothing as appliqué. Band weaving remains a popular craft among Sami artists.
In more recent times, Sami women in certain areas have adopted colorful, fringed shawls or scarves over their gakti. These shawls are usually made of silk and secured by round, silver brooches. A standard brooch is shaped like the sun, the ancient goddess of warmth and fertility in Sami worship. Pendants catch the light, bringing good luck and spiritual protection to their wearer. Brooches were once a major status symbol among Sami women, who inherited them from their mothers and grandmothers. On holidays, women might wear ten or more.[8][9]
Modern Sami Clothing
Today, most Sami people wear the clothing of their larger nations, usually Western-style outfits and jewelry. Many, however, continue to show pride in their heritage by wearing gakti for formal occasions. Duodji artists produce new styles of jewelry inspired by Sami traditions. Their works are popular among both Sami people and appreciative tourists. Authentic artists, however, often face competition from mass-produced knock-offs. This has led to a certified duodji industry meant to protect the livelihoods of native Sami craftsmen.[10]
Bibliography
Lars Ivar Hansen, Hunters in Transition: An Outline of Early Sámi History (Leiden: Brill, 2014) 72-78.
Noel Broadbent, Lapps and Labyrinths: Saami Prehistory, Colonization and Cultural Resilience (Washington, D.C.: Arctic Studies Center, 2010).
Hansen, 117-119.
Heidi Fossnes, Folk Costumes of Norway (Oslo: J.W. Cappelens, 1995).
Emilie Demant Hatt, With the Lapps in the High Mountains: A Woman Among the Sami, 1907-1908, ed. Barbara Sjoholm (Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 2013) 24-40.
Frank Hedges Butler, Through Lapland With Skis & Reindeer: With Some Account of Ancient Lapland and the Murman Coast (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1917), 12.
Tim Ingold, Making: Anthropology, Archaeology, Art and Architecture (London: Routledge, 2013), 101.
Sophus Tromholt, Under the Rays of the Aurora Borealis: In the Land of the Lapps and Kvæns: Volume II, ed. Carl Siewers (London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington, 2012), 144-146.
"Sámi Brooch," Siida, Siida, accessed June 07, 2017.
Rune Fjellheim, "The Suppressive Effects of Defining Traditional Occupations: The Saami Example" in Traditional Occupations of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples: Emerging Trends (Geneva: ILO, 2000), 125-147.
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