The Sami

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the Sami who interest anthropologists because their culture has remained relatively unchanged for centuries and represents the pastoralist origins of the majority of human civilizations. The paper explains that the Sami face two major problems: Contamination to the reindeer from Chernobyl and threats from the lumber industry to take their land. The paper describes the Sami's use of modern technology such as snowmobiles and the World Wide Web.

From the Paper:

"Pastoralist societies are always at least semi-migratory for the simply reason that if the people stay with their herds in any one place for too long the herds will degrade the pasturage through over-grazing and it may take years to recover. The Sami, like other pastoralists in the past and in the present, move with the herds to wherever the grazing is best at that time of year. They also are forced to move frequently because if they were to stay in any one place for too long the herds would strip the fields where they graze, causing long-term destructive to the pasturage. Thus, while the Sami who herd animals return each year to the same pasturage, their life is essentially nomadic, interrupted with periods of semi-permanent settlement."

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