Essential Information About the Indigenous Sami / Saami

The Sami inhabited region does not openly welcome non-organized outsiders on any very large scale. The state government here has made many attempts to keep browsing people away from Karelia and the Kola Peninsula. Also, the infrastructure of the Kola Peninsula is still and will be a huge problem for years to come. And, tourism to the Russian Lapland is unfortunately a very slowly growing business with much work to be done.

I clearly remember a moment when my inner voice whispered, "You will come back not once..." The main motive for my visits was my memory of a past life and unresolved family affairs. The reader may believe or not in this kind of metaphysics or exoteric theory, but I choose to accept the existence of past-life memories. And, it is my opinion that if the reader here will accept and believe in this, it will prove successful for them as it has for me.

My unconscious memory of past reincarnations brought me again to the land of Sami, Lapland. In my past lives, I was a Lapp (modern term is Sami) with a good life. It was my homeland, and I was happy there. This clearly explains to me a lot of things, if not everything. First of all, I have knowledge about this region and people when, in reality, I have no way of knowing what I know about the area and its people. Secondly, I feel so comfortable here that it's hard for me to leave the land of one of my reincarnations.

Indeed I did learn basic information about Lapps in school. They were world-famous storytellers and shamans throughout the centuries. Hunting, fishing, and herding of deer were a primary source of their food. I remember lovely Lapps tales from my childhood. Also, my memory keeps the articles from national newspapers like the Literaturny Gazeta describing and blaming the local government for wiping out the culture of the indigenous people of Russia, including the unfortunate Lapps.

Children of the indigenous people were taken from their families and placed into government boarding schools where they were forced to learn and adjust to Western culture by having their mother tongue and ethnic traditions wiped from their memories over time. They could visit their parents only on vacation breaks and unwillingly stopped using their native language. It was forbidden to speak using ancestors' tongues on the grounds of schools and in the dormitories.

Everything from traditions, songs, tales, rituals, language, fox medicine, and many other vital pieces of their culture that had been passed from one generation to next for thousands of years before most modern Westerns even existed was damaged. Saami culture was consequentially almost completely wiped out within last two generations. The same happened with other indigenous people of Russia as well. These problems not only existed in Russia, but also in other parts of world too.

Many tribes, small ethnic groups, and indigenous people living for centuries on their land in South America, Africa, and Australia have sadly suffered the same end. They have been forced to accept a lifestyle of the "big brothers," the modern states or nations that swallowed them up. Discussions around the globe lead us to realize the importance of the existence of each culture, tribe, small ethnic group, or nation, their beliefs, languages, and traditions.

Numerous international organizations are trying very hard to prevent the disappearance of important parts of human civilization and history-these indigenous peoples from all over-before it becomes much too late to salvage them.

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©Rachel Madorsky