Reindeer Herding and History in the Mountains of Southern Sápmi

During the summers of 1998-2000 four Saami villages in southern Sapmi carried out a survey of traditional reindeer herding sites. Reindeer herding of today engages a small Saami minority, but the reindeer herders are important as bearers of Saami culture and language. Reindeer herding has, however,...

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Main Author: Britta Wennstedt Edvinger
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Svenska Arkeologiska Samfundet 2002-12-01
Series:Current Swedish Archaeology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://193.10.12.85:443/csa/article/view/880
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author Britta Wennstedt Edvinger
author_facet Britta Wennstedt Edvinger
author_sort Britta Wennstedt Edvinger
collection DOAJ
description During the summers of 1998-2000 four Saami villages in southern Sapmi carried out a survey of traditional reindeer herding sites. Reindeer herding of today engages a small Saami minority, but the reindeer herders are important as bearers of Saami culture and language. Reindeer herding has, however, been called into question from several different directions. In this process, which often leads to court, the ability of the Saami villages to present evidence of previous reindeer herding in a region, either in written records or as remains in the landscape, has become an argument for the continued rights of use of certain winter-grazing areas. As a result, archaeology has acquired a new relevance for the Saami villages. But the procedures of archaeological surveys and of the cultural heritage conservation in Sweden are based on ethnocentric assumptions. In a cultural sense, Sapmi of the past and present-day Sweden belong to two different continents, even though they happen to be situated in the same comer of the world. When working with Saami history it is necessary to do away with the distinction between "nature" and "culture", just like a number of other dualisms that are relevant only in a (modern) Western context. If we replace "nature" and "culture" with "environment", we will increase our possibilities to translate Saami history into the language of archaeology and to make archaeology relevant to local people in the mountain region.
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spelling doaj.art-6a5774c8d82443a0a52d51c370fa3cb52023-03-24T02:26:34ZengSvenska Arkeologiska SamfundetCurrent Swedish Archaeology1102-73552002-39012002-12-0110110.37718/CSA.2002.07Reindeer Herding and History in the Mountains of Southern SápmiBritta Wennstedt Edvinger0Arkeologicentrum AB During the summers of 1998-2000 four Saami villages in southern Sapmi carried out a survey of traditional reindeer herding sites. Reindeer herding of today engages a small Saami minority, but the reindeer herders are important as bearers of Saami culture and language. Reindeer herding has, however, been called into question from several different directions. In this process, which often leads to court, the ability of the Saami villages to present evidence of previous reindeer herding in a region, either in written records or as remains in the landscape, has become an argument for the continued rights of use of certain winter-grazing areas. As a result, archaeology has acquired a new relevance for the Saami villages. But the procedures of archaeological surveys and of the cultural heritage conservation in Sweden are based on ethnocentric assumptions. In a cultural sense, Sapmi of the past and present-day Sweden belong to two different continents, even though they happen to be situated in the same comer of the world. When working with Saami history it is necessary to do away with the distinction between "nature" and "culture", just like a number of other dualisms that are relevant only in a (modern) Western context. If we replace "nature" and "culture" with "environment", we will increase our possibilities to translate Saami history into the language of archaeology and to make archaeology relevant to local people in the mountain region. https://193.10.12.85:443/csa/article/view/880archaeological surveyecologymountain regionsSaami
spellingShingle Britta Wennstedt Edvinger
Reindeer Herding and History in the Mountains of Southern Sápmi
Current Swedish Archaeology
archaeological survey
ecology
mountain regions
Saami
title Reindeer Herding and History in the Mountains of Southern Sápmi
title_full Reindeer Herding and History in the Mountains of Southern Sápmi
title_fullStr Reindeer Herding and History in the Mountains of Southern Sápmi
title_full_unstemmed Reindeer Herding and History in the Mountains of Southern Sápmi
title_short Reindeer Herding and History in the Mountains of Southern Sápmi
title_sort reindeer herding and history in the mountains of southern sapmi
topic archaeological survey
ecology
mountain regions
Saami
url https://193.10.12.85:443/csa/article/view/880
work_keys_str_mv AT brittawennstedtedvinger reindeerherdingandhistoryinthemountainsofsouthernsapmi