S03 Ep 7 Reindeer Herders, Soul Travelers & Trappers: Sami Stories

The Sami are the Nordic region's indigenous people: though they share a similar ethnic identity, they inhabit a vast geographical area - from the Atlantic coast of Norway, the lakes, rivers, mountains and forests of Norway, Sweden and Finland to the Kola peninsula of Russia. These stories were collected by a Danish ethnographer, who lived among Swedish Sami. Here is what she has to say about their storytelling tradition:

‘In the protective light, everything may be named, all the horror and sorcery conjured by the darkness. Outside [the tent] in the deepest night wander the dead, the spirits, the evil thoughts one person sends to another...out there are storms and clouds, the moon stars and northern lights. Here inside the tent is the campfire; here is home, the great safe place...During the day the Sami, like other people, are busy with tasks. But when the darkness draws them to the campfire, when the stew kettle hangs on its sooty chain and the steam and smoke rise through the tent opening to the clouds and the night sky, then rest comes, memories slip in, like dreams to a sleeper. The tales and customs of olden times are still a well-spring among the Sami.’

Music: Co-Ag Music, Berit Margrethe Oskal and Sofia Jannak