Saami

[Gary]

I've just finished reading A YEAR IN LAPLAND by Hugh Beach. An excellent book all aboutt he swedish Saami people and their way of life.

More to the point this book also made me think while in bushcraft we tend to look toward Native American skills quite a lot for ideas ect why do we rarely look to our own european natives who have a culture and skills base which far out stretches the native Americans in as much as its still the same today and hasn't changed in some areas since long before the first native Americans crossed the ice bridge!!

With this in mind anybody know of any other good literature about the Saami?

[Phil]

Gary sorry can't help with other books.
You raise an interesting question re our knowledge of the Sami
peoples of Northern Europe.
From what I've read on the web, it would seem that, they have been used in very much the same way by the Swedish Government, as the native North Americans have by the US Government.


Phil

[Gary]

Yes mate not just the swedes but the russians and Norwegians too - although now the Norwegian saami are the best off as they are treated the best. Some of the rules imposed by Sweden on the Saami are plain stupid.

[Scotty]

I think it's probably down to the coverage of these people's by the media. For example the struggle that the native americans have had with the us government has been portrayed in films and tv shows and has been taught in schools whereas I must admit before I heard about them from one of the Ray Mear's series I had not known about the saami.

[Gary]

Probably right Scotty but its also a good thing in a away as their culture and traditions (apart from religion) hasnt really changed - of course they use skidoos now insteand of sleds and Harks ect but generally they still practice the same life sytle.

If the press/media had gotten hold of it - all that would have been lost ages ago