Our last 2 days in Norway have a tapering schedule of activities. Today’s main event was two-fold: 1/ getting to Malengen Resort, and 2/ learning about the Sámi people.
Before we left Tromsø, I took a walk around town. The roads and sidewalks were fairly icy (hey, it is the Arctic), so I didn’t go far—but I did take a few street photos for the memories. This is probably entirely in my head, but the air here smells… cleaner? It was probably just the fact that I was outside a hotel and getting fresh air, but it it was an invigorating walk.
After we arrived at the resort, we got a huge info dump about the Sámi that I couldn’t hope to do justice. So I’ve enlisted ChatGPT to give you a summary of the high points:
The Sámi people are the indigenous inhabitants of Sápmi, a region stretching across northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Kola Peninsula in Russia. Known for their deep connection to nature, the Sámi have traditionally engaged in reindeer herding, fishing, and handicrafts, which are central to their cultural identity. Their history includes periods of colonization, forced assimilation, and cultural suppression, but in recent years, Sámi communities have worked to reclaim and strengthen their heritage, language, and traditions. Many modern Sámi are actively involved in environmental advocacy, aiming to protect the unique and fragile ecosystems of the Arctic from the impact of climate change and industrialization.
The first thing that occured to us was that there are a lot of parallels between the Sámi and Native Americans. Both have been pushed out of their ancestral home lands. Both have been mistreated by civilization writ large. Both have lost much of their cultural heritage. Not to get all Fern Gully about it, but that says a lot about our sense of “progress,” and it’s not lost on me how much simple beauty we lose in the pursuit of modern comforts.
Our guide, Elody, escorted us into the woods where we entered a traditional Sámi laval (very similar to a yurt or a teepee). She touched on various parts of the Sámi culture, from their history, the clothes they wear (and the meanings of various colors and symbols), and examples of Sámi culture in modern media. On that last note, evidently Santas elves and a lot of the movie Frozen pull material from the Sámi culture.
While in the laval, we got to try bidos, a traditional reindeer stew, as well as tea made from pine needles. Honestly, one big takeaway from this trip is reindeer is delicious. But the pine needle tea was surprisingly decent. Next time I go camping in the PNW, I might try to make some!
Otherwise, the day was fairly chill. We saw a sea otter catch a fish and bring it back to its babies under the nearby pier. We made friends with a couple from the UK (who were also on the Sámi tour). We had a quiet dinner and went back to our apartment, and we could sorta see something going on in the sky, but I didn’t get any pictures beyond the sky being green. To the naked eye, it just looked mostly cloudy with a couple breaks where stars were shining through. Still beautiful, but tomorrow we’re hoping to see the Aurora Borealis in its full glory (however unlikely with this rainy weather).
