• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

The Saami

Kondoru

Beloved of Ra
Joined
Dec 5, 2003
Messages
10,639
As its xmas.....

I dont know where to put this, Mods, feel free to move as you will.

found that pic of Carl Linnaeus in Shaman garb.

(now why hasnt he been claimed by over enthusiastic new agers?? But he was a magician in his own way)

But it got me to thinking; we need a Saami thread, they are associated with many strange occult practices, the Norse have phrases like `lappshot` (where we would say `elfshot` and indeed the Saami are very like the people of legend)

They are an age old minority who are successful even in the present day (though they have certainly changed over the centuries)

A minority yes, but one who married into the Royal family.

They are a peaceful folk but they have been identified as the people Ghenghis Khan said he would never want to fight again.

They are clever craftsmen and to this day their wares are in big demand in Scandanavia.

anyone got anything to add?
 
I played a saami bone flute the other day.
 
I second that notion! ...

When I lived in Sweden one of my friends was a principal in a project to (finally) develop some information technology configured for the Saami language. This was an infrastructure innovation to set the stage for networking the Saami communities among 4 nations (Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the then-USSR) and enable closer integration of the Saami population overall. I learned much about the Saami from Björn, and I was privileged to accompany him to visit with some Saami contacts.

I agree with all the points made in the original post. I found the Saami to be a fascinating people - simultaneously embedded in their traditional culture yet open to innovation and new technologies. One can cite all too many cases of indigenous peoples who became absorbed into the dominant culture and attendant economies / technologies. The Saami are the sole example (to my knowledge) of an indigenous culture which has managed the reverse - maintaining its distinct character and viable lifestyle while absorbing new tools and capabilities from the dominant culture.

One winter night in Stockholm my office phone rang. It was Björn - whom I thought was supposed to be out in the northern wilderness accompanying some Saami on a reindeer drive. When I asked if his long-anticipated 'expedition' had been cancelled, he laughed. He said he was sitting a hundred miles away from any settlement (as indicated by their GPS). They were sitting in a traditional Saami tent (lavvu) made of high-tech nylon, which was sheltering them from a heavy storm. They'd camped for the night, slaughtered a reindeer, and were cooking dinner. Multiple of his camp-mates were calling home on mobile phones, and a young Saami boy in traditional garb was sitting beside Björn playing a video game. Absent the long-distance communications / video game, the scene could have been from a century earlier - only the details of the apparatus had changed ...

With respect to possible Forteana ...

I recall (from conversations with Saamis) the claim that no one had ever explained the similarities between the traditional Saami tent (lavvu) and the Native American tipi. One factoid consistently cited was that both portable shelters traditionally used the same number of primary poles. I was struck by the fact that although Euro-culture academics didn't consider the similarities of much importance (e.g., see http://www.utexas.edu/courses/sami/died ... ecture.htm), the Saami themselves seemed fascinated with the subject.

Another interesting thing I (vaguely) recall was that Saami maps and directional guidance were primarily oriented with regard to 'east-west' rather than 'north-south', allegedly because this was the directionality of most rivers in the region.
 
There must be more to add.
Random pics and a whole webpage about them on this new Online Encyclopaedia called Wikpedia. Check it out. It's awesome.

There's a lot to say about the esoteric elements in their flag. I'll post them once I learn what they are.
375px-Sami_flag.svg.png


the Sámi people
Nordic_Sami_people_Lavvu_1900-1920.jpg


And the weblink:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sámi_people

That'll do for starters.
 
I was thinking more about the more unknown aspects of the Saami rather than what can be found on a wikipedia page.
 
Random pics and a whole webpage about them on this new Online Encyclopaedia called Wikpedia. Check it out. It's awesome.

There's a lot to say about the esoteric elements in their flag. I'll post them once I learn what they are.
375px-Sami_flag.svg.png


the Sámi people
Nordic_Sami_people_Lavvu_1900-1920.jpg


And the weblink:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sámi_people

That'll do for starters.
That's a beautiful flag they have there.
 
Nah, looks like a mess.
 
Back
Top