Reindeer

The transition between Sami wild reindeer hunting, and domesticated reindeer herding has happened gradually, and it can be difficult to pinpoint the time of this shift. What we can say with certainty is that the presence of Sami reindeer husbandry in Northern Nordland and Southern-Troms can be traced far back in time.

Archaeological investigations show that already in the Late Iron Age Sami reindeer herding was carried out in Southern-Troms and Northern Nordland. In Riebevággi, which is a valley in Tjeldsund municipality, a form of early intensive reindeer husbandry has been carried out. This type of herding requires that the reindeer are guarded all year round and that terrain formations, such as closed valleys such as Riebevággi, are used to control the reindeer herd’s movements. The earliest form of reindeer husbandry was intensive. The reindeer were guarded all the time and were therefore very tame. They had very good control over the animals. Within this type of reindeer herding, it was also common to milk the reindeer in summer and autumn. Reindeer cheese was made from reindeer milk, which is very nutritious.

Sami reindeer herding can roughly be divided into two subgroups:

Cross-border reindeer herding

Those who moved the long way from their winter residences inland to the summer pasture west of Kjølen (the mountain ridge). The migration pattern of the reindeer-herding Sami took its starting point in the grazing cycle of the reindeer, where the reindeer made use of different types of grazing for the different seasons.

Simplistically, you can say that the reindeer lived on the lichen pastures on the Swedish side from the autumn to the following spring. Here they stayed in areas around the reindeer husbandry centre Čohkkiras. During the summer months, the families stayed in the coastal landscape in Norway where the reindeer grazed on grass and herbaceous plants. This is how the reindeer and their families moved in an old and traditional circle, where the reindeer’s needs greatly contributed to setting the conditions for existence

Stationary and coastal reindeer husbandry

Stationary and coastal reindeer herding had a permanent presence in the coastal landscape on the west side of the mountain ridge. This was a stationary, year-round operation that had a place of residence in the high mountains in the summer, and closer to the seaside in the winter months. In our region, this form of reindeer husbandry is still found in Stuornjárgga, Innasuolo and in the coastal region.

The stationary reindeer-herding Sami in the coastal landscape had good contact with their relatives and families from the Sami towns on the Swedish side who ran cross-border reindeer herding. When the situation and conditions worsened for the stationary reindeer-herding Sami, it could become necessary to move the reindeer to the winter areas around Duortnusjávri and Čohkkiras, where conditions could be better. In such situations, it was not unusual to send the reindeer to be taken care of with the reindeer herders from the Swedish side as sytingsrein.

The stationary and cross-border reindeer herding could in many cases melt together, where stationary reindeer herds were sent over to the Swedish side for grazing, and herds with winter pasture around Čohkkiras could in periods have a stationary stay in the coastal landscape. Natural conditions could mean that many reindeer husbandry units could not, or had to postpone, the move over to the Swedish side. This could be due to grazing conditions or large amounts of snow on the way up to the high mountains.

The fact that the reindeer stayed in the coastal mountain areas during the winter months opened the way to supplementing their income with other forms of livelihood. While the reindeer grazed in the high mountains, the reindeer-herding Sami could find employment in other ways in the field settlements, including logging.