(photographer)
The arctic wilderness is home to to the Sami, Norway’s indigenous people who have prospered in the harsh arctic environment for 5000 years. The Sami are traditional reindeer herders, they are warm and friendly people happy to share their ancient culture, stories and joik-songs around a campfire.
__________________
~ ✐✿ WCOV
So who are the Sami people?
(From a source)
“The Sámi are a group of indigenous people that come from the region of Sápmi, which stretches across the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola peninsula in Russia.
No-one is exactly sure how many Sámi people there are, but estimates range from between 50,000 – 200,000! On the 6 February every year, they celebrate Sámi Peoples Day. They wear traditional clothes, eat traditional food and fly the Sámi flag!
There are many dialects in the Sami language, yet fewer and fewer speak their native tongue.
“The Sami way of life, locals manage to survive this harsh environment by farming, hunting, and fishing in the fjords. Quite often, visitors know about these people due to the fact that they farm reindeer which is present in large numbers in Northern Norway. However, Sami people are usually separated into categories with some farming the land or herding reindeer and others living by the rivers and lakes. At the same time, many Sami have also left their home to settle in towns or cities, and, in fact, Oslo, the capital, is where you’ll find the highest quantity of Sami people in Norway.”
And just like in many parts of the world, the rural living becomes too challenging for the younger generations, and they relocate, leaving their culture and the traditions behind. This tendency can easily be explained by the fast growing gap between the lifestyles, between the living conditions and lifestyle itself. Many seek comfort in the urban environment: easy education, then employment. With the boom of technology in the last few decades the life has change tremendously, offering a very attractive picture for the younger generation.
I guess this is when photography and writing plays an important role (one of many). Capture, write and document…
~ NR