The Sami people in northern Norway

The Sami people are the indigenous people of Norway. Most of them are in the north of Norway. They are said to be the only* indigenous people in Europe. When **Norwegians **travel, we focus on ''the underworld''*, which basically means all countries that are south of Norway. Why not begin going even more upwards instead? There is a whole different existence up there with a different view on life, independence, and ownership!

Similar *stories *to the Sami people one are The Roma queen of the Balkans and The ice hotel in Sweden.

Religion and Christianity

Before they became **Christians **they had nature gods and spirits. For example, the **sun **was their god. The Sami people thought that **nature **had a soul. The objects themselves had *energies *within. A lot of **the Sami people **still think similarily. For example, your **Ski-doo snowmobile **has a special power that gives you a specific energy in your life. It might be positive or negative for you.

The Shaman

They believed in the power of the Shaman. A special person in the community who goes into a transhuman state and gets in touch with **spirits and cures diseases. This Shaman character was their priest. The Shaman is spoken of by Terence Mckenna who explains how the smartest thing in the world is a mushroom. Terence Mckenna was referring more to the south-Shamans **in the **India **area and south america perhaps. Still, it is a very similar concept. Also worth noting is that Carl Jung said that the **psychotherapist **is the modern day Shaman.

Norway's Christianity mission

Norway made the Sami people Christians. They weren't allowed to practice their own religion. Now the **Sami people **are usually Laestadian Christians. They were made to be **Christian **by the state according to Norwegian archeologists.

Useful and fun Sami information

All kinds of people in **Norway **from housewives, children, old people, and punk rockers are looking for **Shamans **to cure their problem. It can be any kind of problem like a broken foot, eating habits, or existential life issues.

In other religions, it's usually a personified character who is the king of the sun. Like Horus, the falcon head person from** ancient Egypt.** In the **Shaman **religion, it's the **sun **itself who is the god.

The Sami people are spread over** Russia, Finland, Sweden, and Norway.**

**The Sami language is a language family consisting of **10 different languages **which are depending on the region.

Exactly how many people who speak the** Sami language** is debatable. The most reliable source says it's about** 30 000 people.**

In the easter, they celebrate the end of the dark periods that we have up here in the north. They have the **easter festival **every year in Kautokeino.

**The Sami language **of **Ter **has 2 elderly speakers left and is spoken in Russia.

**Reindeers **are super close to the Sami lifestyle. The more *reindeers *you have, the more status.

The **IQ **of **Sami people **is the highest of all indigenous people on average. They lay at **100.8 **in IQ.

Snowmobiles

In the other parts of Norway, we have workers who wake up early in the morning to take away the *snow *from the roads. **The Sami people **are utilizing the *snow *instead, and are using **snowmobiles **rather than cars. Again, very smart people. The kids are thought to ride the **snowmobile **at a very young age. Some kids ride the **snowmobile **since they were 3 years old!

Borders and gypsy similarities

The Sami people didn't originally think about ''country borders''. Their **borders **were limited to their flock of **reindeers **and the area that they lived. Basic property rights were their way of *positioning *themselves.

When borders are not important

*The problem *with not caring about **borders **is that someone else will. It's like not caring about how much something costs in a shop and not paying attention to the price. In this case, you will probably lose a lot of your money.

They are similar to **Gypsies **in this sense. The difference is that the **Sami people **travel less historically speaking.

Finnmark

The land called Finnmark means the land of the Sami people. In **Finnmark **and the areas around is where they existed by themselves until **Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Russia **wanted to categorize these places into what is theirs and what is not. **The Sami people **have begun to care about **borders **because they might lose their culture. In Norway, the Sami parliament is a thing, and North Samish is an official language in Norway! **Sami culture **is officially recognized in **Norway, Sweden, and Finland. **However, not in Russia.

South Samish people

Mostly our attention goes to the** north of Norway** when we speak of the Sami people. Be aware that you have Sami communities in Røros, too, for example. This is very south for being part of the Samish people. The south Sami language only has about 500 speakers.