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Where are the Rapps?

Lapps, one of the Nordic peoples. Self-proclaimed “Sami”.

It is mainly distributed in the Arctic regions of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. Belonging to the mixed type of Mongoloid and Europa race. Use Lapp. Most believe in Lutheran Christianity, a few believe in Orthodox Christianity, and widely retain primitive religious remnants.

Living area

The Lapps are a people living in the Lapland region of northern Europe. They have lived in self-isolation for centuries in a cold and dark vast area. The Lapps are an ancient tribe that constitutes the largest ethnic minority in Norway, Sweden, and Finland. The total population of the Lapps is about 80,000, more than half of which live in Norway, and 2,000 live on the Kola Peninsula in Russia.

History

The ancestors of the Lapps began to migrate to Scandinavia as early as 10,000 years ago. They were originally distributed in a wide area, but they were squeezed out by Germanic and Finnish tribes and gradually moved northward. Some people were assimilated by the latecomers. They used to make a living by fishing and hunting wild deer. They successfully raised reindeer about 1,000 years ago, and then became their main means of livelihood.

The development of the deer industry directly affects their society, economy, culture and way of life, enabling them to create a unique reindeer civilization and develop an economic type adapted to the Arctic environment. The traditional society is based on the patriarchal family (see patrilineal clan system) and the clan, and has always lived a democratic life in primitive society.

Status quo
Stick to native language

The Lapps, who live in northern Norway, call themselves Samos and are known for their insistence on using their own language. They believe that the once-banned language in Norway has formed a separate and long-standing culture that continues to develop. Their lands are divided by endless borders, so much so that they often find themselves paying taxes to several countries at the same time.

Kalashk, 400 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, 15 kilometers from Finland and 160 kilometers from Sweden or Russia, is also the seat of a parliament established by Norway to demonstrate the protection of cultural rights of the Samos and their minority status. So far, the council’s powers have been limited to consulting with the Norwegian parliament in Oslo on issues of particular importance to the Samians, such as education, natural resource conservation, agriculture, land and reindeer.

However, the council became increasingly important to the Samians. Topher Antie, administrator of the Samian council, said: “In a sense our physical appearance is our annoyance because it makes the Samians hide from other people. If we look different , it will be easier for us to convince our assimilated compatriots, it will be easier for us to unite…”

The Samians are peaceful by nature. “We don’t even have the word ‘war’ in our language,” says Antti. Yet in 1979, a dispute over Norway’s planned embankment of the Alta River, 160 kilometers north of Kalashk, set them back. suddenly became aggressive. That plan would flood the Samos town of Massy and pave a road through the main reindeer herding and breeding area. Samos conducted a 3-year civil disobedience campaign. They staged protests around the Alta River and the national parliament in Oslo, and have drawn younger supporters into the movement.

The Samians view their multiple nationalities in a non-confrontational way. “We never say ‘we’re going to Finland’, we say ‘we’re going to the Finnish side of the border’; we don’t call our parliament ‘Norway’s Samian parliament’, we call it ‘ The Parliament of the Samians living in Norway’. This is important because words have enormous power.”

With the Reindeer

For centuries, the Samians living by the sea lived from fishing, while those living in the interior lived a nomadic life. With reindeer as companions, they lead their own deer herds to the inland grasslands in winter and to the bay area in summer.

The Lapps are a nomadic people in Europe who still live a nomadic life. They mainly live on reindeer. They migrate south in winter and north in spring, wandering with their herds of deer all year round. They marked the ears of each small deer, and put a numbered collar around the neck of each large deer. The Lapps are a very honest and simple people. They don’t pick up lost reindeer on the road. If someone else finds a reindeer and finds it, they will send it back according to the number.

Reindeer have left a deep imprint on the life and customs of the Lapp people. For example, every June 1st is the Lapp New Year’s Day. This is because the deer is born in early June every year; the Lapps pay taxes to the government, and they also use May 31 as the end of a fiscal year to settle accounts. Another example is that when the Lapps talk about the distance, they also use the deer to urinate once every 7 to 8 kilometers they travel as a calculation unit.

As a people, the Lapps camped and multiplied in the Arctic region as early as centuries ago. In addition to raising reindeer and fishing, they also engage in other industries. Although each family has their own reindeer, they are very economical when using deer skin. The whole skin is used to make leather clothes, and the leftovers are used to make other handicrafts. Even the fur of the four hooves is also used to make leather shoes and gloves. , and the design is very artistic.

The Lapps smile at the cold—the Lapps of Finland build pens to raise reindeer, while the Lapps of Sweden use helicopters to herd their deer. Don’t think that the Lapps live very poorly. They may be the richest among Europeans: an average person owns 300 reindeer. In addition to eating for yourself, it can also be sold in large quantities. Reindeer meat is very expensive and is regarded as the first-class dish in local restaurants, and young deer liver is still a boutique. In some tourist restaurants, reindeer meat is often in short supply, and the market price of a live reindeer is generally more than 100 US dollars.

The staple food of the Lapps is reindeer meat with potatoes and barley cakes. The cooking is unique: the reindeer meat is cooked in an open fire; the barley cakes are half-baked on hot stones and then placed on the fire. baked. It is served with oatmeal and cheese made from reindeer milk. The Lapps drink salty coffee with little milk, because reindeer milk is difficult to milk, and young deer need milk more than humans.

In winter, reindeer live in herds around the Lapp tent-style houses built of logs and single skins. They hide their bodies deep in the snow, only showing their sharp corners. Reindeer have a keen sense of smell and can smell moss covered by snow to a depth of 1 meter, and use their horns and shovel-like hooves to dig out and eat.

When the spring warms and the snow melts, the reindeer will begin their annual migration to the alpine meadows in the north, where the female deer will also give birth. At this time the Lapps were busy rolling up the blankets in the house, packing the oval birch bark box, leaning the sledge against the gatehouse, harnessing the reindeer, and preparing for the expedition. After an almost breathless gallop, the Lapps and reindeer came to the alpine meadows. Here, Lapps pitch their tents next to hearthstones that have been passed down through generations, while reindeer scatter to mate and feed.

Finnish Lapps generally wear chef-like tall hats, while Norwegian Lapps wear square hats, which are very distinctive. The Lapps have one thing in common: they are bold and unrestrained, and they often sing by the campfire. Especially in the snowy winter night, the singing of the Lapp people lasts all night.

Integrate tradition into modernity

The Lapps have also learned to increase their income and improve their lives by setting up tourism services. The city of Rovaniemi in Finland is known as the “City of the Arctic Circle”. There is a Santa Claus Village in the north of the city, where the local Lapps hold a ceremony for tourists to cross the Arctic Circle every day. There are many flagpoles erected at the entrance of the village, with flags of various countries hanging on them. A tall wooden sign with “Arctic Circle” written in various characters is used as a sign of entering the North Pole, and tourists can take pictures here to commemorate.

The unforgettable tourist project here is to “baptize” tourists, that is, every day at noon, a Lapp girl puts on a national costume, puts a piece of reindeer skin next to the Arctic mark, and asks tourists to kneel on the deerskin and untie their clothes , Pour a small amount of ice water to give tourists a taste of the cold weather in the Arctic Circle. After that, Lapp girls handed cigarettes and deer milk to the tourists for them to taste. Finally, hold an Arctic commemorative certificate printed with a deer pattern to tourists, proving that someone crossed the Arctic Circle on a certain day, month, and year.

With the development of industry in each country, the Lapps have also been affected by modern civilization. Most of them turned to settle down, built modern facilities, and used modern daily necessities; some have used helicopters, off-road vehicles and motorcycles to herd cattle. The way of life has changed significantly, but some still continue to live a nomadic life. They drive deer herds to coastal areas to graze in summer, and return to inland areas in winter. The journey is as long as 500 to 600 kilometers, regardless of national boundaries.

The national consciousness of the Lapps has been awakened day by day, and they are fighting to safeguard the political and economic rights and cultural traditions of the nation.