Forest Sami

When Ernst Manker studied the life of the forest Sámi in the early 20th century, nearly all of their habitations had been abandoned.

Only one forest Sámi village remained, in Malå in Västerbotten, an area known as Stenundslandet in Anundsjö.

The forest Sámi in Kemi, Åsele, and Lycksele became assimilated into Finnish and Swedish society beginning in the 17th century.

There are still forest Sámi cultures present in the woods in Norrbotten and in Malå in Västerbotten [3] and in central Lapland of Finland.

In 1585 Olof Andersson Burman, a government liaison to the Sámi (lappfogde) in Luleå and Piteå, wrote: De säges vara granlappar som utgöra skatt om året bland vildvaror /,/ fiskeskatt som är gäddor, sik, abborre.

Men de andra som ingen fisk ränta förmältes i årliga längden kallas fjällappar, havande det namnet därav att de bo uppe i fjällen uti bergsskrevor, och komma till inga sjöar med mindre deras nabor granlapparna vele godvilligt efterlåta dem fiska med sig.

[15] When Ernst Manker studied the forest Sámi during the first decade of the 20th century, almost every viste had been abandoned for abodes that looked more like the homes of the Swedish majority culture: houses and farms.

Forest Sámi during this period lived a less nomadic life, since they were less involved with herding reindeer.

Bears were known to be part of a special cult, and the forest Sámi people had intricate ceremonies revolving around them.

[19] With the decline of reindeer herding in large parts of Norrland, the forest Sámi culture almost disappeared, since they no longer continued their traditional lifestyle.

[citation needed] Only one forest Sámi village, Stenundslandet in Malå, survived into the 19th century.

In 1842, Persson received authorization from the municipal leaders to conduct reindeer work, which he continued until his death.

The reindeer business was subsequently taken over by his daughter Sara Johanna and her husband Lars Jonsson, but they eventually abandoned the traditional lifestyle.