Holidays in Finland - Sami National Day
The world celebrates Sami People's Day on February 6th
This celebration is dedicated to the traditions and culture of this people and is held in Sweden, Finland, the Russian Federation and Norway
In total, about 75,000 representatives of the small Sami people live on our planet (according to documents of the Sami Parliament) They live mainly in the territory:• About 2,000 people live in the Russian Federation• In Finland - from 6,000 to 8,000 people• In Sweden - from 17,000 to 20,000 people• In Norway from 40,000 to 60,000 people
The idea of celebrating Sami People's Day began on February 6, 1917 in the Norwegian city of Trondheim For the first time in the history of the small nation, this city gathered representatives who were supposed to resolve issues of unifying the Sami, as well as work out mechanisms for interaction not only among themselves, but also across state borders
The next step in unifying the Sami was the creation in 1956 of the Sami Union Initially, the Union expressed the interests of the Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish Sami who met at the Sami Conference The celebration itself was first held in the Swedish town of Jokmokk in 1993
For Russian representatives of this nationality, the celebration has additional meaning On this day, after the formation of the Sami volost by Emperor Alexander II, the elected body of national representation, “Koladag Sobbar,” met
Activities on Sami People's Day vary depending on the location However, the raising of the Sami flag over the local town hall or city hall remains unchanged, as well as the playing of the national anthem “Sámi soga lávllaat” In addition to the ceremony, educational and entertainment events are held Schoolchildren and kindergartens are told about the Sami people themselves, Sami culture and history An integral part of the holiday are festive feasts, at which the “heroes of the occasion” and guests are treated to national dishes and get to know each other better The official “capital” of the holiday is the Norwegian town of Tromso, where various sports competitions are held, for example, sled racing with reindeer harnessed to them
In the Russian Federation, in addition to Sami People's Day, there are other national holidays of its own For example, on the Kola Peninsula, in the village of Lovozero and the village of Loparskaya (Murmansk region), summer Sami games are held Sports competitions include crossbow shooting, sled jumping, lasso throwing, cross-country stick running and other traditional Sami sports In addition to being the venue for sports competitions, these two settlements are not only the cultural center of the small nationality, but also a place visited by the most authoritative and representative delegations of the Norwegian and Finnish Sami
Modern Sami have retained the worship of the spirits that their ancestors honored In their religious and mythological traditions, the Sami are close to the Finns Believing in the existence of spirits of lakes and rivers, representatives of this nation also do not forget to honor their ancestors and sacred stones (large boulders, cliffs, etc), which are the patrons of national crafts The Sami also worship seids, which are stone structures, moss, stumps, and so on According to their beliefs, seid is a spirit that lives in a certain area and requires sacrifices Religious and mythological rituals are carried out by Sami cult ministers (kebuns, noidas and others)