Bertil Marklund

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Skogssamiska studier

MUCH LESS HAS been written about the Forest Sami 1 than about their kinsfolk the Mountain Sami. As evident from the name, the Forest Sami live in the ecotype, which we call the taiga. It separated them from Mountain Sami in the west and farmers on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia in the east. The Forest Sami had of old been in contact with Mountain Sami and coastal farmers. From the second half of the 17th century these contacts increased considerably with Finnish- and Swedishspeaking settlers from the coastal areas of the provinces of Ångermanland and Västerbotten. These settled in the Sami areas on the taxation areas of the communities 2 of the Forest Sami. Among the then existing Forest Sami communities were the community of Arvidsjaur in the Sami area of Pite and the community of Uhmeå in the Sami area of Urne. My thesis deals with the Forest Sami in these communities and is entitled The Differentiation of the Forest Sami Communities: The Community of Arvidsjaur and the Community of Uhmeå 1650 -1800. During the 18th century the areas of the Forest Sami extended from Gällivare in the north to Åsele in the south. Today there are Forest Sami chiefly in the area corresponding to the community of Arvidsjaur in those days. 1 The designation Sami (Swedish same) is the native name for this population. It is now commonly used instead of Lapp, a term which the Sami consider derogatory. 2 The term community is used here to refer to the geographically often very vast areas treated as administrative Sami units.