MAY 9 - Due to our latitude, and the time of the year, nights are short in Inari (about 4 hours). And what constitutes ‘night’ is just the sun dipping down to the horizon, and not really getting that far below. Hence, there is no point at which it is really dark. This can be disorienting for sleep, as it always seems like morning is upon you, even at 2 am. Case and point, I went out at about 1 am to check on whether there was any chance to see the aurora borealis. We had two clear nights in a row so it was worth looking. As I stood there, four arctic hares came by. Even at this hour, there was enough light to get a (grainy) picture.
Three of the four hares, Only one (not shown) was all white, while the others are in the process of darkening.
Today the Sámi Museum is open, but only the open air portion (the inside is under renovation). The immediate vicinity of the museum is at the point that the Juutuanjoki drains into Lake Inari, hence is itself an archaeological site. Signs of habitation here extend back to 10,000 BCE.
The Sámi people, who can be broken into many different sub-groups (all speaking distinct languages), are the only indigenous people recognized by the EU. Their range is from western Norway to the Kola Peninsula in Russia. There are an estimated 10,000 living in Finland. In their traditional form, they depend on reindeer for food, clothing, and transportation.
A grain storage house with a homemade ladder.
The reconstruction of a relatively modern Sámi home, with interlocked wooden beams. In all the houses I saw in the museum, each room had its own fireplace.
A sauna room. The bench is for people to sit or lay down. The stone structure to the left would be heated up with coals, and the heat radiating up through the rocks on top. Water would then be thrown from the wooden bucket to the rocks, in order to generate steam.
A large area here is dedicated to displaying different traps used (prior to their banning in 1898). There was a specific trap for every type of animal, including bear, wolverine, wolf, fox, ermine, and wild reindeer, among others.
In the afternoon we head out on some country roads to a reindeer farm near the shore of Muddusjärvi, owned by Tuuli Airamo. It is not the usual time of year to do a ‘reindeer tour’. Normally they are only given in the winter, when everyone can go for a sled ride (not enough snow now). On the positive side, right now is calving season, so we have the opportunity to see some newborns.
We get a long explanation of antlers. Male reindeer lose theirs every year in the fall, and grow a larger pair the following year until maturity. One they start getting ‘old’ (8 years plus), the annual rack decreases in size. The sequence on the right best shows this, from youngest (at base) to oldest (at top).
Well, Odette got to sit in the sled anyway, even though she couldn’t be pulled anywhere. The sled shown is the old traditional type, no wider than the reindeer itself to ensure that it can pass between any trees that the reindeer can. The reindeer shown is an old male, named Sukkajalka (sock foot). All the reindeer on this farm had names.
One of the two newborns. It is rare that this one is so dark colored. The food that Tuuli is giving the mother are lichens, which is their favorite meal in the wild. She is tied up because new mothers prefer to give birth deep in the forest away from the herd, and by tying them up they are forced to stay near. If domesticated reindeer disappear for a week, the babies will not be accustomed to people, which can be a problem when the mother returns to the herd.
A one year old male, Note the single prong antlers.
The nearest reindeer Odette is feeding is a female, with white antlers that stay on throughout her life and are important to defend her offspring. Behind her is a male, with antlers that are just sprouting, but covered in dark fur.
Sukkajalka’s hooves splay out to occupy a wide area. This adaptation makes it easier for them to walk in snow and in peat bogs.
This five day old member of the herd didn’t have a name yet. Tuuli asked Odette what name to give, and her suggestion was ‘Happy’. So, in Finnish, ‘Onnellinen’.
