Through centuries the Sámis - the indigenous people of the Northern Cap - have held on to their unique cultural heritage. This February you can get a taste of this in New York City.
2/4/2008 :: The Northern Cap, constituted by the Northern areas of Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Russian Kola Peninsula, is a hard and cold place to live, but Sámi establishments have existed here for centuries – long before the formation of the states mentioned above.
Long traditions
The Sámis have long and versatile cultural traditions which emphasise the people's relation to and sensible use of nature. Their society has been characterized by integration between production, culture and family. The Sámis consist of two people; the nomadic people, who travel across the country with their reindeer herds, and the sea people. They traditionally lived lives of hunting and fishing, were organized in big family groups called siida, and lived in teepee-style tents called Lavvus.
Reindeer herding is an important part of the Sámi culture, but the Sámis are maybe most famous for their traditional music, a form of song or chanting called "joik", which is linked with the traditions of the shaman and the Sámi popular medicine.
Assimilation
With the introduction of Christianity to Norway, and the increased trade and emphasis on private property and rational agriculture, there was an increased pressure on the Sámis to assimilate with the rest of the Norwegian population and convert to the "ordinary" modern lifestyle.
As has been the case for indigenous people in many countries, the treatment of the Sámis in this period was one of lack of respect and understanding for their cultural heritage and lifestyle. From around 1850 this kind of politics influenced everything from the language to agriculture, and in some places the Sámi language was forbidden in schools until the 1950’s.
Changes
After the Second World War however, the situation began to change, with for example the United Nation’s Human Rights Declaration of 1948. Several Sámi organizations were established and Sámi questions were discussed by the Norwegian Parliament. Since then, there has been a focus on preserving and strengthening the Sámi culture, from literature and joik to language education and reindeer herding.
Today, the Sámi population in Norway is estimated to somewhere around 45.000, many of them living in Oslo.
The Polar Weekend
On February 2nd and 3rd, The American Museum of Natural History hosted The New York City International Polar Weekend. Here, the Norwegian Sámi singer and scholar Johan Anders Bær performed traditional Sámi music and talked about contemporary Sámi society in Scandinavia. Bær was joined by musicians and joikers Terje Tretnes, Per Tor Turi, and Halvdan Nedrejord. They will also have a performance at Scandinavia House February 5th at 6:30pm, and a brief performance at The Norwegian Church in New York in connection with their weekly business lunch, at 1:00pm on February 6th.
Silje Bekeng / Royal Norwegian Consulate General in New York