The indigenous Sami people of Europe's Arctic region on Wednesday celebrated their national day with dance, songs and lassoing displays amid worries that their ancient traditions based on reindeer herding will disappear.
Once oppressed, most Sami now live modern lifestyles, and few still herd reindeer. But many wore their traditional brightly colored costumes as they performed chant-like joik songs and recited poems of their ancient culture at events across northern Scandinavia and Finland.
Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon greeted Sami school children in northern Norway urging them to be proud of their heritage and to remember their nomadic ancestors, who wandered freely through the northern wilderness until country borders were established.
"I think it's important that we are known for where we come from and what our cultural roots are," Haakon said in Kirkenes, 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) northeast of Oslo, near the Russian border.
In Helsinki, a few dozen protesters gathered outside Finnish Parliament to protest delays in laws granting Sami land rights and to demand more Sami language teaching.
Raila Pirinen, a native Sami speaker, who uses the language daily in social media, said she came to show support for the disappearing language that once was banned by regional officials.
There are more than 10 different Sami languages or dialects, with many not understanding each other.
Sami people in the late 1800 Sweden Norway. Pay attention to the boots. Samiske folk i Norge eller Sverige. Legg merke til støvlene, samiske komager dvs. biekso
"I think that now, Sami young people and couples and parents ... they understand how important it is to speak the Sami language, and they also dare to demand their rights," she said. "I think that maybe the Sami language will survive. I'm not sure, but I hope."
Nearby, visitors to an indigenous Sami market were served bowls of hot reindeer soup during an afternoon snowstorm as Samis sang traditional songs, some displaying their reindeer lassoing skills.
Sami Children and puppies in Jämtland Sweden
The reindeer herding tribes - formerly known as Lapps - settled in the region 9,000 years ago and now number about 80,000. Up to 50,000 Sami live in Norway, 20,000 in Sweden and 8,000 in Finland. In addition, an estimated 2,000 live in Russia.
Many Sami areas today have semiautonomous status with regional parliaments, after Norway created the first Sami Council in 1964 which became the Norwegian Sami Parliament in 1989. Sweden and Finland followed suit in 1993 and 1996.
Wednesday's celebrations come nearly 100 years after the Sami met at their first national congress of about 100 herders in Trondheim, Norway.
Source
Sami camp Finnmark early 1900's
Northern Sweden Nomad Sami people about 1880
Sami woman and child Enare Finland
Nomad Sami Finland 1920s
Nomad Saami Children late 1800eds Sweden
Saami Girl from Finnmark Norway, Photo 1930's
Swedish Sami mother and children from Jämtland early 1900
Photos source
The Sami national flag
thank you for sharing these wonderful photos
Thank you...I have read about the Sami for a couple years, so this was great to see.
I said it before, that the northern countrys have their natives. In Sweden children were punished when they talked their native language. Today they work with modern methods, when they gather the reindeerheard. Still i am proud too share this country with them, even that i am from south, and they north. I wish and hope that they ones again can cross the borders up in the north, like they did before. There country area was across Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Karelen. Karelen beeing the nothern part of former sovjetunion. I am swedish living in a small community, but i do follow and participate, whenever i can. When i was a child, i read about natives in Northamerica, and i wished that i had been a reborned male warrior from the 12-th century. Then i learned about our natives, and the lives and rituals are the same, as all free tribes, wherever they come from.