History

Up trough the ages the Saami people have been treated unfair… The first founds of Saami building foundations was in the early 300`s.

 

In the 1700`s the saami moved around to avoid confrontations with the Norwegians! The colonization of the saami areas started by the coast and then the Norwegians followed the rivers into South-Varanger and Finnmarksvidda. The saami people lived so far from each other that they weren’t able to make any resistance.

 

The saami`s where a peaceful people expect in 1852 when some of the saami people went Kautekeino they killed the alcohol dealer, the Police officer and they tortured the priest!!

 

Under the World War 2 the saami`s in Finnmark where forced to move from Finnmark when the Germans burned the villages “up north”! It looks like Hitler forgot the Saami but before the world war the Norwegians studied the saamis heads sculls!! After the WW2 the government of Norway decided to Norwegianize the Saami`s they sent the Saami children away from home and if the talked their Saami language they where punished!

 

But, after a couple of decades the Norwegians stopped the Saami Discrimination. In the 1981 was the posh woman’s in Oslo West aware of the saamis when the Norwegian government decided to build a water plant in the Alta River. 5000 demonstrates didn’t want the Norwegian government to build a plant.

 

In 1989 the saamis got their own parlament the “Sametinget” and King Olav V opened it. In the 90`s the sameting got more influence on the government but the saamis is only 40000-60000 and they don’t have so much power.

 

Saami today

Today the Saamis are 40000-60000 and they live in Northern Norway but the south saamis live in Troendelag-Hedmark but the area where most Saami live is Oslo in Norway its around 35000 saamis and the rest of them live in North Sweden (lappland) North Finland and a small part of North Russia (The Kola) the Saami people have their own news the Oddasatt and many radio stations. In Norway the saamis got their own parlament and they are working make things better to the saamis!

 

Saami Religion

Before the saamis believed in a nature religion where the shaman worked as a priest/holy man who was able to contact the dead spirits... The saamis believed in the dead kingdom where people went when they died. After the Norwegians came the Saamis are good Christians but they have their own look on Christianity

 

“Joik”

Joik is song that never starts or never ends a Joik can be a song dedicated to animal or a person but it can also be a song to nature and traditions. The Joikers choose three or four sounds to repeat trough out the “song”. In the old religion joik was the magic the shaman used with the “runebomme” to get on a spiritual level

 

Saami Language

It is three big Saami languages it is the South Saami the North Saami and the Lule Saami but it is also 7 other Saami languages.

 

Saami