azhong wrote:I read one of Naava's posts in the thread Best Music Vedios you have seen, where she mentioned about the Sapmi(?) people. I knew nothing about it and spent some time googling it for fun this morning, for a cultural learning. Sapmi is actually a very old premitive people in Europe; they spread in the area near the northern pole.
Sápmi is the land they traditionally lived in*, stretching across Northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. I think the Arctic Circle or the Arctic (region) might be a better description than North Pole:
This is Sápmi:
This is the Arctic Circle:
The people are called Sámi (also spelt as Sami or Saami) and the languages are also called Sámi. There are about ten Sámi languages in total, depending on how you count them. Northern Sámi is the largest and the one you're most likely to encounter. They belong to the Uralic family tree and as such are distant cousins to Finnish, Meänkieli, and Kven language that are spoken in and near Sápmi.
(Sámi languages and Finnish, Meänkieli and Kven aren't mutually intelligible, but you can recognise some words if you know to look for them: e.g. muorji, beaivi, jávri vs. marja, päivä, järvi. I'm pointing this out because this is a language forum, so I thought you might be interested to hear things like these.)* I'd say majority of the Sámi still live within Sápmi, but of course they're free to move wherever they wish to (which they do), so I hope you won't think they only live in Sápmi. Also, a warning: if you read more about Sámi and Sápmi, you might sometimes see people use Lapland for Sápmi and Lappish for the languages and the people. These are old terms, and they're considered offensive nowadays. Note though that there is a Finnish region that is also called Lapland. It overlaps with Sápmi, but is not the same thing:
It'd also be less offensive if you avoided calling anyone (Sámi or not) 'primitive'. It has bad connotations - it sounds like you're saying they're backwards or not yet as advanced as humans as yourself. It's also kinda incorrect term here even if you really meant to say so, since Sámi live similar lives as everyone else in Scandinavia, Finland, and Russia: they've got 9-5 jobs, mortgages and student loans to pay, modern houses, Western style clothing etc. etc. what you'd expect to see in any Western country. Reindeer husbandry is a traditional livelihood that is still practised by many Sámi, but it's not the only job available nor is it done the exact same way as 200 years ago (they e.g. use snowmobiles). There are also some who make and sell
duodji or traditional Sámi handicraft, and many Sámi like to wear their traditional accessories and clothes - but that doesn't make anyone primitive.
I think the word you were looking for would be
ancient or
indigenous. They've certainly lived in Sápmi (and also areas that nowadays aren't part of Sápmi) for centuries before the current states were born.
In case you'd like to learn more, I've myself enjoyed
this blog! The translations of Ina Omma's posts are especially interesting IMO, since you can hear a Sámi woman speak of her own experiences and what it is like to be Sámi today instead of reading more formal descriptions of the culture etc.
Yoik, or joik, is the name of traditional songs of the Sapmi people.
I really like joiks! The traditional ones were sung without background music, but especially
Nils-Aslak Valkeapää (who you should look up if you haven't already, he was a cool guy) started to add (modern) instruments to joiking. If you want to listen to more, Angelin tytöt (later Angelit) were really popular some decades ago. One of the band members has sometimes performed with her daughter Hildá Länsman, who is also an artist worth listening to. There's also Sofia Jannok who you might like, although I think her music is starting to get further away from traditional joik than Angelit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vyDQhTIicYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUle-k5rJ6Qhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUKoKNaEMychttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyA64m_p3PYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGc7c8U2apsDid I get a bit carried away with this post? Yes. Do I have any regrets? Nah.