I don\u00b4t recall ever learning about Sam\u00ed Shamanism in any of my Norwegian classes at St. Olaf and it is certainly not a topic of conversation with non-Sam\u00ed Norwegians. \u00a0In fact, in my classes in college we learned very little about the Sam\u00ed people in general. \u00a0Furthermore, I have observed from personal experience that many non-Sam\u00ed Norwegians don\u00b4t have the greatest opinion of the Sam\u00ed. \u00a0The Sam\u00ed are the indigenous people of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. \u00a0Their existence is traced back 2,500 years.<\/p>\n
Most Sam\u00ed people today belong to the Lutheran Church of Norway, Sweden, and Finland, and some of the Russian Sam\u00ed adhere to the Russian Orthodox Church. \u00a0Christianity was introduced to the Sam\u00ed like the rest of Europe by the Roman Catholics in the 13th century. \u00a0After the Protestant Reformation, pressure was placed on the Sam\u00ed to do away with their traditional religion of Shamanism. \u00a0Rune drums were burnt and many Sam\u00ed were accused of sorcery, like those who suffered during the Salem Witch Trials in the northeast U.S. \u00a0In the 18th century, Thomas von Westen, known as the \u00b4Apostle of the Sam\u00ed \u00b4, burned drums and used force to convert people.<\/p>\n
After the 18th century, traditional Sam\u00ed relgion was more or less invisible to the rest of the population. \u00a0However, many Sam\u00ed would practice Shamanism at home and show up to Sunday church service. \u00a0Today, a very small percentage of the Sam\u00ed practice Shamanism, but there are certainly still traces of it. \u00a0Sam\u00ed Shamanism is a polytheistic religion that worships animal spirits and ancestor worship.<\/p>\n
Sieidis<\/em> is the Sam\u00ed name for particular locations at which the Sam\u00ed would worship. \u00a0Sieidis<\/em> were usually a unique land form, such as a large rock or pile of stones. \u00a0These land forms would be placed in a special, high place or in an open meadow. \u00a0Here the Sam\u00ed would make animal sacrifices and set special leaves (green fur twigs in the winter and green leaves in the summer)there as gifts to the gods. \u00a0The purpose of the animal sacrifices and placement of leaves and twigs was to fend of misfortune to the reindeer flocks or ask for insight into better hunting techniques.<\/p>\n A noaide<\/em> was a mediator between earth and the spiritual world. \u00a0The noaide <\/em>played a traditional drum, a flute called a fadno<\/em>, and sang traditional joiks<\/em> (chants) in ceremonies. \u00a0The noaide<\/em> would transcend into savio<\/em>, the divine world where they negotiated with ancestors, gods, and spirits to better the life of the people on earth.<\/p>\n I think the traditional Sam\u00ed religion sounds very interesting and isn\u00b4t too far off from Native American religious practice here in the U.S. \u00a0I took a class in college on Native American History and what I learned about the religious aspect of Native American culture was definitely one of the most interesting.<\/p>\n I can\u00b4t end this post without listing a few Sam\u00ed gods, if nothing else so you can try really hard to figure out how to pronounce them.<\/p>\n Bieggagallis<\/strong>– the father of storms<\/p>\n Jabbmeaaakka<\/strong>-goddess of death and queen of the underworld<\/p>\n Lieaibolmmai<\/strong>-god of the hunt<\/p>\n Mubpien\u00e5lmaj<\/strong>-the evil one<\/p>\n Tjaetsie\u00e5lmaj<\/strong>-the men of water<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I don\u00b4t recall ever learning about Sam\u00ed Shamanism in any of my Norwegian classes at St. Olaf and it is certainly not a topic of conversation with non-Sam\u00ed Norwegians. \u00a0In fact, in my classes in college we learned very little about the Sam\u00ed people in general. \u00a0Furthermore, I have observed from personal experience that many…<\/p>\n