Page 140 - Panjek, Aleksander, Jesper Larsson and Luca Mocarelli, eds. 2017. Integrated Peasant Economy in a Comparative Perspective: Alps, Scandinavia and Beyond. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 140
integr ated peasant economy in a compar ative perspective
Introduction
The Sami are an indigenous people of northern Scandinavia, Finland, and
the Kola Peninsula of northern Russia. From the 1550s the Sami gradually
became integrated within State administration in terms of taxation, trade
and jurisdiction (Hansen and Olsen 2014, Ch. 5). In the 17th and 18th centu-
ries the Sami realm was divided into Russian, Danish/Norwegian and Swe-
dish lappmarks. Until the late 18th century the Swedish lappmark (see Map
6.2) was inhabited mostly by Sami and a small non-Sami population focu-
sed around inland mining sites and church centres. However, the number
of both Sami and non-Sami settlers multiplied rapidly over the following
centuries.
Map 6.2: Map of northern Fennoscandia showing the distribution of the six administrative
districts of the Swedish lappmark in the late 18th century (Hermelin 1796)
So, what characterised the Sami economy in the Swedish lappmark in
the 17th and 18th centuries? How did the Sami there exploit the natural re-
sources and how did they subsist? Sami subsistence, used synonymously
with economy, is defined here as the source or means of obtaining the ne-
cessities of life, yet it also includes the production of goods to be used for
trade. In this period the Sami in Sweden comprised two groups: Mountain
138
Introduction
The Sami are an indigenous people of northern Scandinavia, Finland, and
the Kola Peninsula of northern Russia. From the 1550s the Sami gradually
became integrated within State administration in terms of taxation, trade
and jurisdiction (Hansen and Olsen 2014, Ch. 5). In the 17th and 18th centu-
ries the Sami realm was divided into Russian, Danish/Norwegian and Swe-
dish lappmarks. Until the late 18th century the Swedish lappmark (see Map
6.2) was inhabited mostly by Sami and a small non-Sami population focu-
sed around inland mining sites and church centres. However, the number
of both Sami and non-Sami settlers multiplied rapidly over the following
centuries.
Map 6.2: Map of northern Fennoscandia showing the distribution of the six administrative
districts of the Swedish lappmark in the late 18th century (Hermelin 1796)
So, what characterised the Sami economy in the Swedish lappmark in
the 17th and 18th centuries? How did the Sami there exploit the natural re-
sources and how did they subsist? Sami subsistence, used synonymously
with economy, is defined here as the source or means of obtaining the ne-
cessities of life, yet it also includes the production of goods to be used for
trade. In this period the Sami in Sweden comprised two groups: Mountain
138
