Portraits of Indigenous Peoples - Sámi

A portrait of Runar, from the Sámi people. Runar lives on the Norwegian side of Sápmi.

The homeland of the Sámi Peoples is Sápmi, which stretches over the state territories of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. The current known population is estimated between 60.000 to 100.000 people.

His traditional gákti is from the Markasámi area in South Troms and Northern parts of Troms and a very similar version is used around Jukkasjarvi on the Swedish side of the border. This represents the old migration routes for his ancestors who were migrational reindeer herders traveling over the Norwegian/Swedish border. This traditional migration is no longer possible due to the current delimitations at the borders. A very distinctive detail on Runar's indigenous name is the double "Elle" that refer to his grandmother and great-grandmother, who were both named Elle.