Religion (Reflexive Post)

Religion in society today, is more different now than it ever has been in the world.  In American society, religion isn't always practiced since people have the freedom to choose what they want to do.  In the case of the Sami, however, they mainly practiced shamanism and strongly believed in spiritual deities guiding every aspects of their lives.  Now, since I was raised as a Roman Catholic my views on religion have always been a little curious.  After my confirmation, I started to slow down going to church to a point where I just don't go at all anymore.  Not to say that I've stopped believing but just don't feel like my faith is based on attendance.  Overall, the Sami are allowed to choose what religion they wish to practice and aren't tied down to just one, which is much like the situation here over in America.

Religion (Ethnographic Post)

The main religious practice for the Sami was shamanism.  In traditional Sami religion, living beings and inanimate objects were all thought to have souls.  It was through a special priest or shaman, called a noaidi, that a person could communicate and connect the spiritual and physical world.  A shaman could only perform this task when juoigan is being performed, which consists of chanting and drumming which is the traditional Sami music.

With the passing of time, the Sami people have slowly been converting to Christianity.  This was not willingly, however.  It had mostly to do with a man named Lars Levi Laestadius who was a Swedish Sami pastor that was put in charge by the Swedish government to convert the Sami from a shamanistic religion to Lutheranism.  Through preaching in Sami, he acted as the intermediary for the two societies (Sapmi and Sweden), establishing a trust which eventually caused the decline of traditional Sami religion.

Gender (Reflexive Post)

Gender roles have been changing in many societies similar to the way they changed in the Sami culture. American society began by banning women to only house hold chores and raiding children. Women were thought to have little value unlike in the Sami culture where the women’s roles were viewed as means of survival. In American society, the women also had a feminist movement, which is still ongoing. Women have gained a lot of power since then. Women went from not being allowed to work and vote, to holding office positions and even running for president.

American and Sami society are not always the case when it comes to gender role. For example, I am Indian and where my mother comes from, women play the role of raising children, making clothes, and taking care of the house. My mothers was raised with this mind set and tried to force the idea on me. I was born and raised in America where the times have changed and women have more independence away from men and their husbands so we clash ideas when we discuss gender roles. Similar to how the Sami Society changed; Indian society is doing the same. Some parts of India have already moved well beyond straining women’s roles but it can sometimes be hard to change the ideas of people who have grown up knowing a certain role.

Gender (Ethnographic Post)

            The Sami people have specific gender roles granted to men and women just like many other societies. The expectations for traditional Sami women are for survival needs. They take care of the family along with the household such as prepare clothes which helps for the families’ survival in the harsh winter months. This along with other tasks necessary for survival make the Sami culture has a matriarchal element. Though the Sami women may seem to fit the “ideal women in many societies,” their responsibilities are actually very important to the Sami people.

            These values of women dropped as Christianity became more prominent within the Sami people. Before Christianity, women where known to have a sort of power. After Christianity, the men in the society felt that the Bible was telling them that they were superior to the women. Sami men became more dominant and demanding over their wives, expecting more obedience. Christianity in the Sami people left women having less self-esteem and self worth.

            The Sami women had a feminist movement in 1970 to fight against the change of gender values. They demanded equal rights for gender as well as for the Sami people as a whole. Their feminist group now has political outlet in their group. They have been able to grow their power as women and are in legislative positions along with men. The equality that the women in the Sami have is all due to their feminist movement. Now all the women can do is grow in their powers to assume all that Sami men do.

Folklore (Reflexive Post)

    Folklore is something that is a part of every culture. I grew up in Florida, and there are many American tales that I have been told and read about throughout the years. There are fairytales, ghost stories, legends, popular beliefs, etc. Some well-known fairytales and stories are that of Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Snow White, even Santa Claus. Every kid is told about Santa Claus, and they go through their childhood years believing that a big man with a beard rides around in a sled pulled y reindeer to deliver gifts to children to open up on Christmas morning. Almost every kid has a written a letter to Santa and believing that Elves were making their gifts in the North Pole. There are countless Christmas films that have Santa involved in them. It is just a part of our culture, folklore or not.

    There are plenty of other forms of folklore in the society that I grew up in as well, such as ghost stories. I loved getting scared as a little kid and listening to ghost stories or watching scary movies. A very popular ghost story is Bloody Mary. I used to play the game with my friends when we were younger to see if she would actually appear. We would research stories of other people seeing her or friends of theirs who did and died. Even vampires and werewolves are really popular today. There are tons of books, movies, and television shows involving these kinds of creatures. While most people know these creatures are fiction today, although some people do believe they exist, there was a time in history when many people believed in vampires and werewolves. Witches are another part of folklore that many people believed in back then and still do today. The Salem Witch Trials only took place a few hundred years ago when people were killed for being accused of being witches. Folklore has always been and always will be a part of every culture. I grew up on many different tales, many of which I believed as well, so I can see how folklore is a big part of Sami culture because it is a big part of American culture as well.

Folklore (Ethnographic Post)

    Traditionally, the Sami shared beliefs that certain spirits were associated with certain places and with the deceased. The majority of their myths and legends are concerned with the underworld. Other tales include the Stallos. These were troll-like giants who were said to eat humans and/or suck out their strength through the use of an iron pipe. Another figure in Sami folklore is the stallu. This was known as a wicked person who had the ability to appear in various forms.

    The Sami creation myth is another tale that tells the story of Biegolmai. He was a monstrous giant known as the Wind Man. He was said to have created the Sapmi region in the beginning of time. He did this by taking two big shovels. One of the shovels were used to whip up the wind and the other shovel was used to drop enough snow to keep anyone from living there. Unfortunately for Biegolmai, one of his shovels broke one day which caused the wind to die down. This enabled the Sami to enter Sapmi. 

    One of the most well-known Sami folktales is the story of "The Pathfinder." The tale tells of a Sami village being attacked by another tribe known as the Tjudes. The Sami fought back, but they were outnumbered. The Tjudes killed every last Sami in the village except for one -- a young boy. The Tjudes force the young boy to lead them to the next village so that they can overtake them as well and the boy agrees. He leads them through the mountains, and when they reach the top, the Tjudes decide that they want to wait til morning to continue the journey so that they do not lose their way. The Sami boy ensures them that he knows the mountain well and he will lead them the rest of the way by torch. He also suggested that they all tie themselves together with a rope so that no one gets lost along the way in the dark. The Tjudes agree, thinking that the Sami boy is loyal to them. However, as they head down the mountain, the Sami boy leads them to a cliff. He stops at the edge of the cliff, tosses his torch over the side, and yells at the others to follow him. They all end up falling over the edge. This tale was turned into a film called The Pathfinder.

Globalization (Reflexive post)

     Globalization has affected everyone life`s, it is clear that the world is improving at an incredible pace. In our case the United States  we are one of the world leaders in innovation; it is clear that a relation between globalization in the United States and the Sami is difficult to make but, in my case I`ve found some similarities between my experiences and the Sami.

    For example, my family hails from Colombia, in there my family used to be in the agricultural business; so I am familiar with what goes around conserving a healthy environment and the necessary symbiotic relationship between man and mother Earth. I shared that sentiment with the Sami core values and as the Sami also experienced globalization also change my family how we lived as pollution levels increased and disregard for wildlife occurred in the region where my family used to live.

   War and political changes affected the Sami and my life. Revolutions was a common occurrence and they affected the places where we could go and obviously changed the way peopled live. So I understand how wars can affect the lifestyle of the Sami and this being a complex situation. Continuing with globalization something that impacted me was the complete ban of their language in schools and their change of religion. I could only imagine me being put in a situation where the way I communicate and my religion is changed, adapting to this would be grueling as it sounds like what you know is useless, especially from the point of view of a kid. When I moved to the United States I did have to learn English and a complete new culture, so it was lesser culture shock than the one the Sami suffered.

Globalization (Ethnographic post)

      Globalization for the Sami has had many stages some of the most important has been forced labor. The Sapmi region is rich in silver and ore this caused the government to enforce the Sami to work on the mine and use their reindeer`s for transportation. Continuing with aspects that have affected the Sami is the wars and revolution that have taken place in Europe, for example, the Russian revolution caused a cease in the Pomor trade of Sami colonies with Russia, this heavily impacted their economy and especially fishermen; World War 2 also caused evacuation of the Sapmi region when the inhabitants came back their homes had been destroyed and refugees were also in the Sapmi area.

     In terms of religion policy Globalization has greatly affected the Sami. Christianity was imposed  on the Sami region, in some cases deadly force was used. Shamanisn was the main religion practiced, but an incredible push for Christianity took place, with multiple churches being built in the region and the practice of Shamanism, Animism, Polytheism being outlawed. The usage of boarding schools was used as an assimilation tool to instill Christianity into children.It was also used to change the Sami language customs, as in some schools it was prohibited Sami and only  native language of the country was allowed.

    Globalization has caused problems to the environment, the Sapmi region has been severely  damaged, land and wildlife have decreased through the years thanks to pollution, companies moving to the area, and the lack of interest and protection by the government. The biggest environmental problem was the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster, as this had an indirect effect on the Sami  by poisoning vegetation, meat and not to mention the health of the people.