Sami Economies
A look at the trade and husbandry of Sami peoples.
The Sami are most famous for reindeer herding, but only about 10 percent of their population works in the industry today. Reindeer farming is a tradition descended from an earlier hunter-gatherer lifestyle. In past centuries, Sami people did not raise their own livestock. Instead, they followed reindeer herds, using archery and traps to capture deer as needed. Their summer pastures on coasts and islands provided ample time for fishing, hunting, and the gathering of edible plants such as cloudberries. There is also evidence that Sami people kept tame deer for milk and transportation, even before their domestication. Under the siida system, each family group regulated its use of the land to prevent over-hunting and -fishing. An average family made everything it needed for survival, including its own clothing, utensils, and housing. They faced occasional raids from more militant cultures to the south. For the most part, however, the Sami conducted trade with outsiders for metals, jewelry, and other luxury goods.
The 1500s brought many changes to Sami societies, including economic ones. As Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia emerged as nation-states, they imposed new laws on commerce between their borders. This meant new taxes for the Sami, who sometimes crossed multiple borders on their annual routes. Additionally, settlers moving north claimed land that had previously belonged to the Sami and their herds. With dwindling land and options, the Sami divided into three distinct economic groups. Coastal Sami people relied more on fishing, farming and trade. Mountain nomads remained closely tied to their herds and seasonal fishing. Somewhere in between, the forest Sami kept smaller herds of reindeer and trapped for valuable furs. In nations such as Sweden, Sami people were sometimes forced to work in silver mines, including hauling the metals on reindeer sledges.
These changes saw the loss of an ancient way of life, but they shaped Sami cultures into their present form. Potatoes and coffee reached northern settlements in the 16th and 17th centuries. Where women once created clothing from hides, they now purchased cottons, wool, silk, and pewter for their outfits. Tourism became an important industry in Sápmi, though it also led to tourist villages run by non-Sami imitators. Reindeer herders now use modern technologies like helicopters, ATVs, and GPS radios for their work. In Russia, Soviet collectivization efforts resulted in a general loss of land and culture among Sami populations. Today, Sami people in Fennoscandia generally possess exclusive rights to hunting, fishing, and reindeer herding on designated lands. Ownership of these lands and their management is still the subject of debate on local and national levels.
Further Reading:
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References
“History Articles.” Sami Culture, University of Texas, www.laits.utexas.edu/sami/dieda/history.htm.
Hund, Andrew J., ed. Antarctica and the Arctic Circle. Vol 1. ABC-CLIO. 2014.
“Preserving Indigenous Culture in the Arctic.” Sweden, Swedish Institute, Feb. 2014, sweden.se/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Sami-in-Sweden-low-resolution.pdf.
Robinson, Michael P., Karim-Aly S. Kassam, and Leif Rantala. Sami Potatoes: Living with Reindeer and Perestroika. Bayeux Arts. 1998.
Sami Parliament. “The Sami: An Indigenous People in Sweden.” Samer, Samer.Se, www.samer.se/2137.
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