The Sami people are an indigenous Finno-Ugric people inhabiting the Arctic area of Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. The Sami are the only indigenous people of Scandinavia recognized and protected under the international conventions of indigenous peoples, and are hence the northernmost indigenous people of Europe. Sami ancestral lands are not well-defined. Their traditional languages are the Sami languages and are classified as a branch of the Uralic language family.
Traditionally, the Sami have pursued a variety of livelihoods, including coastal fishing, fur trapping, and sheep herding. Their best-known means of livelihood is semi-nomadic reindeer herding. Currently about 10% of the Sami are connected to reindeer herding, providing them with meat, fur, and transportation. 2,800 Sami people are actively involved in herding on a full-time basis. For traditional, environmental, cultural, and political reasons, reindeer herding is legally reserved only for Sami people in some regions of the Nordic countries.
Sami man on Reindeer sledge in Lappland Sweden
Sweden Sami people 1899 Jamtland
Anares, Enare or Inari Finland Sami family with boats. 1900
Swedish Sami family from the turn 1800 – 1900
Sami group early 1900 eds and Lavvo tents in Tromsdalen
Sami family and Lavvo tent photo T. Dahllöf, Kiruna, Sweden
Sami family in Nordland Norway early 1900
Lektion Sami Nomad school Sweden. 1900
Sami Swedish nomad Sami 1880 – 1920
A semi-nomad Sami Children Northern Sweden Norway late 1800 (likely from 1884, Bonaparte).
Sami people from Sweden. Gruppbild. Sorselesamer i Ammarnäs 1871.
Sami women from Fatmomakke Västerbotten Sweden
Northern Sweden Nomad Sami people about 1880
