Travelling through Lapland, Scandinavia, you will have a chance to discover Sámi culture. Learning more about Sámi history and culture will enrich your travel experience. This article discusses our experience in Finland, Sweden and Norway with Sámi and suggests places to go.
Our experiences learning more about Sámi
We weren’t always sure of our exact travel plans, but as soon as we realised we would go into Lapland, Natalie started to talk about wanting to learn more about Sámi. We both did not know a lot and did not know what to expect.
After we crossed the Arctic Circle, she started googling to see where we could learn more and one of the first great options we found was the Siida Museum in Inari, Finland. This was such a great experience (we will tell you more about it below) and gave us a lot of information about the culture and the history of Sami.
We had no clue about most of it:
- the wideness of their territory
- how they travelled all over, depending on the reindeer and what they needed
- how they struggled after lands (Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia) were formed, and borders kept them in
- how countries treated Sámi
- how it wasn’t until recently they started gaining some rights back
Just to name a few.
There were so many emotions while learning all about their history, and we felt embarrassed that we knew so little.
Sometimes we saw ‘parks’ where you could go and see how Sámi lived, but we decided against that. We weren’t sure if they were being exploited there. We might go another time if we have done more research.
We did go to Karasjok in Norway, where we visited the Sámi Parliament of Norway. During our (free) tour, we learned more about the political side of things and how things are going these days. It was a great addition to the museum. We also visited several ruins where Sámi used to have settlements.
Places to learn more about Sámi
We’ve written down some places where you can learn more about Sámi people. There are more spots, but we only suggest spots we’ve been to ourselves.
Siida Museum, Inari, Finland
The Siida Museum is a national museum about Sámi culture. It is located in the north of Finland, in Inari. There is a lot to learn about the history and culture of these people and how they are connected to nature.
The museum offers a unique, modern and interactive exhibit where you can learn all about the life of Sámi, herding reindeer, fishing, hunting and crafts. The museum has stories of Sámi and shows you old artefacts, traditional costumes, photos and even videos to give you more idea of how Sámi used to live. We were thoroughly impressed with this exhibition.
There are also temporary exhibitions. They are meant to show different parts of Sámi culture, history and politics. While there, one showed paintings of several Sámi artists and other modern takes on Sámi art. These exhibitions will change every few months.
The Siida Museum also has an open-air exhibition showcasing Sámi heritage’s architectural side. You can explore traditional Sámi buildings and get a feel for how the Sámi used to live. Some houses had specific purposes, like cooking or storing food, while others were more casual. Experiencing the Sámi history this way is lovely.
You can learn about the Siida Museum here: https://siida.fi/en/
See our experience of the museum here: Vlog 17
Sámi Parliament, Karasjok, Norway
The parliament of Sámi in Norway is located in Karasjok. It plays a crucial role in promoting and preserving Sámi culture and heritage. It’s where discussions about the interest of Sámi take place and decisions are made. They discuss cultural preservation, language rights, education, environmental concerns and more.
We got a free tour through the parliament that takes about 45 minutes. You learn more about politics and how recently this all changed. The Sámi parliament is also a symbol of pride and unity and of how resilient they are.
The building itself is pretty interesting too. It is shaped like a lavvo, a Sami tent, and has a unique interior design inspired by Sami traditions and nature. It has several offices, meeting rooms, and the main space for the Sámi representatives to discuss issues.
If you ever find yourself in the North of Norway, we highly recommend visiting the Sámi Parliament. And there are also other places about Sámi nearby that could be interesting.
See our experience at the parliament here: Vlog 20
Want to see more?
With a motorhome, travelling somewhere to learn more about a specific topic is easy. And we would really recommend you take your camper up to the north of Scandinavia to discover Sámi culture.
There are many more sites that could be interesting to visit if you want to learn more about Sámi and their culture and history. We genuinely believe that it is essential for people to know more about this as it is one of the least-told stories in European history.
If you want to learn more about how to experience the Sami culture, check out these websites:
Norway: https://www.visitnorway.com/typically-norwegian/sami-people/
Finland: https://www.visitfinland.com/en/articles/meet-the-sami/
Sweden: https://visitsweden.com/what-to-do/culture-history-and-art/culture/discover-swedens-traditional-sami-culture-and-way-life/
Read more about the North of Norway here: North of Norway
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