Anbytarforum
Särskilda ämnen & övrigt => Discussions in English => Swedish history => Ämnet startat av: Liz Carlson skrivet 2012-08-27, 05:15
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Greetings!
I have a question regarding having any possible Saami ancestry. So far my known Swedish ancestors are from Vårdnäs, Östergötland; Sunne, Värmland; Frykerud, Värmland; Särestad, Skaraborg; and Vimmerby. I am told I have Saami ancestry but I am not sure which line it is from. I also suspect that there were many generations of intermarriage and assimilation occurring with my Saami ancestors. I have read a bit about some historical moments in colonial processes in Sweden regarding Saami peoples when they were forced to either leave the south or assimilate and cease herding reindeer. I have also heard of South Saami peoples. I am wondering how common it is that peoples in the above mentioned locations might have Saami ancestry and what clues I might see that would help me detect which of my ancestors have such heritage.
It is very difficult for Saami American and Saami Canadian peoples to discover their Saami heritage because this was often hidden during emigration because of the internalized shame due to colonialism.
Does anyone have any insight into these questions and the related history?
Liz
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There is a lot of interest in comparative DNA between Saami populations and other Scandinavians.
Read http://www.scribd.com/doc/97390921/The-Western-and-Eastern-Roots-of-the-Saami%E2 %80%94the-Story-of-Genetic-%E2%80%9COutliers%E2%80%9D-Told-by-Mitochondrial-DNA- and-Y-Chromosomes for instance.
See Saami project at family tree dna and discussions at 23&me for another research area.
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Thanks Richard,
That is an interesting article. There is some controversy within the Saami North American community regarding the role of DNA testing in cultural identity and some of us have opted for this testing, while others have not. I myself have not been interested in having my own DNA tested at this time, but am hoping to trace my Saami ancestry genealogically. I appreciated the article.
Liz
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Hello Liz
The areas you mention are not areas where the Sami people used to live. They lived in the northern part of the country. This is an old link with facts about the Sami people: http://www.samenland.nl/lap_sami_si.html
As far as I can remember the Sami people were only spread down to Härjedalen in the south. (Here is a map of Härjedalen) http://www.herjedalen.se/turism/english.4.1c2eb66911fa755d3678000221.html
Otherwise they lived in Lapland in Sweden, Norway and Finland and also in northern Russia. They have of course moved all over Sweden for a long period of time, so you might still have Sami ancestry! They say that there are more Sami people in our capital Stockholm then in Lapland nowadays.
Here is a map of what the Sami people call Sapmi: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/57/LocationSapmi.png/256px -LocationSapmi.png
Sapmi means both the land of the Sami and the Sami people - it is a nation without state or country borders, with a common language, culture and history. I live very close to Lapland myself.
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Thank you Margaretha,
This is very helpful.
Liz
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To be real sure you have Sami ancestry is when you find the Lapp, Lappman/nen of their ancestors in church records. In Norway, it may say Lappfinn or Finn in the church books.
There are records of Lapp south of Lake Mälaren in the church records. There are hundreds of “Lapp” names in church records in Svealand with Gästrikland.
Jouni Tervalampi
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Thank you for this helpful information. I'll watch for those clues.