I am a Sami, born in Finland, when I was young, I inherited a land with lakes and forests north of Rovaniemi in Finland and reindeer. Many greedy people wanted this land that belonged to my uncle, I ended up making it a nature reserve for wildlife. Now i live in France, far from my country but i stay a sami, I miss lakes, forests, nature.

I am Russian and Finnish Sámi. Seeing my culture and ancestry talked about is really great.

Great respect towards Sami people and their culture,no matter if they are connected with reindeers or not!

My Grandmother was Inari. She just called herself a "Lapp" in America. My family is now trying to understand what it means to be Saami. Thank you for this.

We are all over the world now. Many Saami migrated to America to start new with new opportunities but we are still Saami. Many homesteaded in Montana and built homes in our traditional ways. My grandfather pointed places out to me when I was young in the 1950s. We farmed and ranched. That life has changed so much now too. We need to have a website where we all are welcome no matter what country we live in. My family never herded in this country but that doesn’t make me any less of a Saami.

My grandfather told me, that in the old times, there where also fisher-saami, and woodland-saami. He came from a fisher-saami lineage that hade married to sothern Swedish people that came to work with building the railway.

My ancestry is Saami and I am grateful for this documentary Blessings 💚♾

Don’t be bothered by reindeers, brother. My family have been sea samis for generations. It’s the culture and values and closeness to nature that you bring from your ancestors. Reindeer herding is just one part of a bigger picture.

Thank you for this, I know a lot of Sami religion and practices, but not enough about history. My grandmother and great grandfather were native Sami, who came from Finland to the U.S. My father had known of his Finnish roots, and some of his Sami roots, but never embraced them, only ever embracing his father's side, of Scottish descent. My sisters and I were raised still with Sami traditions, holidays, and religion. In 2018, he decided to take a DNA test, finding out that his father was never his real father. Both my father and I have even further done research into our ancestors, looking into records and tape recordings of my great grandfather speaking in Sami and Finnish. Now, my dad at 70+, he is starting to learn about himself as a native Sami, and I really admire that. We are currently learning Finnish together to go to the town in Finnland that my Grandmother and Great-grandfather were born.

Great film. When I lived in Oslo in1962 & 1964 teaching TM we had a Sami in the house called Aslak. I remember someone telling they were allegedly very connected to nature.. Aslak signed the silver wedding gift trowel that was bought for me and I treasure it still.

My biggest takeaway from this wonderful video is how fragile is the individual identity of each human being in a world that seeks to generalize in order to understand. What a blessing it would be to really sit down and become thoroughly acquainted with every person we meet, in lieu of trying to "define" people according to labels or identities determined by others! And all the more so the have others seek to really know me, as an individual and not as a representative of all the "groups" to which I am determined to "belong". This is a beautiful documentary.

This is so beautiful, powerful and heart-breaking. It speaks directly to me and my own struggle with identity, as an Australian, of Irish descent - deeply connected to my Irish cultural roots - but feeling like an 'outsider' in the company of some Irish born folk. It also resonates with the horrible situation here for First Nations people and their story of attempted genocide and massive programs of assimilation. It is such a terrible way to treat a people, with devastating, long-lasting impact. Yet, these cultures should be honoured and respected. Much love and respect to all Sami people!

How powerful, beautiful and brave to open dialogue on how the remaining community hurts from the disconnect, you can see it in his face :( but this can be an amazing thing because this could bring to light a way for the rest of the Sami community to connect and expand what it means to be Sami, and help us who are working to reconnect from diaspora, all of the other elements of our culture that aren't emphasized, so that we can further enrich coming back into our lost heritage, I guess similar to the way that the people living in Sapmi are having to do on a greater scale as they are reconnecting to what was taken from them and lost. All my love to Sapmi and those who refuse to be defined by mainstream stereotypes, and thank you for being so courageous!

We were here before and we will be here after. Never forget

Hi from New Zealand, Aotearoa. I hear your voice, thanks for sharing. God bless.

His smile when grandma said "NOoo!" abt having to own reindeer to be Sami touched my heart so much.

I am Sami and Wampanoag. My Sami Great-grandfather was lied to by the US government in order to teach Alaskan Indigenous peoples to manage reindeer as a protein source. When the teaching was complete, the US government broke their promise and left the Sami stranded.

I am Afghan but I don't know why I fell in love with Sami people.

This is parallel to any number of Native American tribes, the boarding school, the loss of identity, the loss of traditions, beliefs, and an entire way of life. Very sad, but one can always be proud of one's heritage.

Halo! From Mexico! My grandmother was Sami descendent. But when I grew up all they ever said was that she was a black norwegian. She was brown. Mormons went to Norway and converted them and they emigrated to America. Her maiden name was Conrad. She was born in Provo Utah. I had no clue what a black norwegian was until I googled it one day and walah! Sami. I still have pictures of my aunt Elva and Myra in traditional dresses. Yes YOU are still Sami with or without raindeer. Who cares! It's in the blood! I inherited the RH factor from her! What's wrong with herding raindeer?? Good grief we are in 2020 now.

Thank you so much for representing this amazing ancient culture.

I met Nils Aslak when he was in Canada. A very talented singer and friend to to many in Ottawa in the late 70s. I still have his album.

This video and interviews gave some great perspective. Very nice film .

Greetings from a Sami descendant in the USA!

Great short documentary. Really appreciate the production and sharing of this film. Respect for the Sami people and culture and can empathize with the tension involved in transitioning to the modern age, and appreciate the strength of values brought to us from that culture. As a modern people we are improved by the values the Sami culture adds as it blend with the rest. And I respect the urge to hold to your ancestral identity. Thank you, again, for sharing this interesting documentary.

Watching this from Indonesia, I love learning about history, culture and tradition and this is beautiful documentary.

I am half Ojibwa and half Finn from Canada. I’m registered status native and can relate to this on so many levels. Growing up in regular Canadian society, I’d deal with the usual prejudice that comes with being an “Indian “ here. And after I got my status back ( we had lost our status generations before cause in order for a native to buy a house or own property you would have to sell your treaty rights) your own people look down on you. Caught between cultures, unwanted in either. lol Mongrels make the best dogs 👊🏾 Not inbred

Niklas, I can understand your feelings about being Sami. My ancestors came from Skelleftea and Narpes, Finland. They emigrated to America in 1929. I always believed that I was 100 percent Swedish, but a recent DNA test said I was 60 percent Finnish. My parents could only speak Swedish, not Finnish. But the DNA says my heritage originated in the Ural mountains of Siberia. My family’s DNA has a common origin as the Mongols. I never expected to be mostly Asian. I probably have some Sami genes also. Today I live in Florida and may be called an American. But genetics says my origins are north Asian. You will always be a Sami. I will always be part Mongolian.

The American and Canadian Sami immigrants can tell the same story as this gentleman has described, though we have a very different circumstances. Thank you for this documentary. I will tell some of my Sami friends as well.

I find this so interesting since my heritage is mostly Finnish Swedish and Norwegian from grandparents (and I can also speak/read Swedish) - but also living here in Minnesota USA with an uncle and cousins who are indigenous Ojibwa and experienced many similar experiences of boarding schools and questions of acceptance/authenticity by both cultures that seem similar to this

Here after watching Klaus on Netflix…best Christmas origin story ever. Lovely to learn about Sami. Great video.

Interesting documentary! Thank you very much for uploading! 💐😊

I agree. It's rather stereotypical to be expected to own reindeer just because you are Sami. That is like expecting many of our western Native American cultures to live in tee-pees simply because they are Native American. I have Sami ancestry myself (and have largely Scandinavian dna - 63% total - being Norweigan, Finnish and Slavic. I was born in America and I don't own reindeer, nor do I speak any of the Sami dialects fluently. The portion of Sami dna I hold does not make me any less Sami simply because it isn't a full 100% either. Owning reindeer is not a requirement to be Sami. And my goodness, his grandmother looks almost like my grandma - they could pass for sisters!

This is so beautiful. After living 20 years abroad away from the country I was born I always had this close connection call to the native people of the north. When I lived in East Germany they asked me if I was Inuit. It really made me laugh because my hair is brown and my eyes too. Last year I spend some holidays in ume and 1 Sami man spoke to me in his native language thinking I was 1 of them probably.. I don't know but please please reconnect with your ancestral roots, pass it to your kids. Let them see his grandparents and hear as much stories as they can. The world is in much need of reconnecting with Ancestral Wisdom. I do not fit very well in my country and mum said that my dad came from the Comanche region. Hugs and Gratitude for sharing this timeline with the rest of us. All the Love and All the Courage to you All!

You are Sami bro, nobody can take that away from you! Your Grandmother is a wonderful lady, very wise.

I am so happy to see this. Happy that we Sapmi are showing other non Sapmi people that they can't push us around anymore. Showing them we have our own ways and don't need anything but our way of life. My family is one of the few families that still herd reindeer. When I go home I will go back to this life once more and be where I belong. With my people.

Fascinating story. Thanks for making this. I knew nothing about these people. They should claim their heritage and be proud of it.

This is a thoughtful and beautiful documentary. Thankyou❤

I recently found out I am almost half Sami. This knowledge was almost lost through denial and assimilation. If I hadn't done my DNA (curiosity only) and seen that I was a little bit Inuit and East Asian (mind blowing since I thought I was 100% Norwegian, and thought it was an incredibly odd thing to be), I never would have known. Even then, it was difficult. Thanks to Norwegian Church Records, I saw that one set of great grandparents were Sami. However, the records weren't always consistent, so there was nothing like that said about the others. However, the other set came from Finnmark, Northern Sweden and Finland, and many DNA relatives were wearing Sami gakti. I know that my dad's side of the family were fisherman going back generations in the Finnmark area. Even though I didn't grow up with this knowledge, and definitely no reindeer, I feel a deep and intuitive connection to the Sami, and it was a relief, as well as a wonder, to discover this connection as it explained so much of who I am. At the same time, though, this knowledge upended my entire identity, so I feel for this man who knows he is Sami, but due to societal rules and bureaucracy, is made to feel not a part.

Really cool and insightful contribution! More, please!

My family is originally from Jokkmokk, when our land was threatened my great grandfather left and moved to North America. My family was removed of our heritage but were finally starting to take it back

culture and ethnicity is more than just one aspect it about where you come from, your ancestors, traditions and that connection to your people and the land if you keep that in your heart it really does not matter what people think.

Very interesting to know sami people. Be peace with you

Touching. Most of my family came from Sweden to America.

Absolutely stunning 💖

Reminds me of the American government sending the Native Americans to schools like the one in Carlisle Pa, the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.

Never, never be afraid of who you are, be proud of your culture, as you are special, like me as a indigenous person of the US, you are a indigenous person of the north, something to be proud of.

The inside of me is home. Exactly. Maintain that and your mother tongue. Deep inside I try to do this. Although I’m only 1/8th Native American. I will continue to follow this path. I don’t care what others say about my look. That’s the outside. None can see my inside. None but me. Stay strong all indigenous peoples and remember it lives in you.

i wish i had more knowledge about sami culture. it is so saddening to see those sami people, they were in agony. good luck from a turkish person, stay strong sami people!

I'm watching this from the USA wondering why his English speech is so clear and when listening to people from the British isles I find there accents are difficult to understand. I read a book 60 years ago about a Sami lad while in school as a child, in my dreams I followed the rein deer herds and slept in the snow covered moon drenched expanses.

Thank you for sharing your story

I think it's really sad when other people say, "This is my idea of your culture, you have to fit it, or else you don't count." It is always fascinating -- and sometimes heartbreaking -- to hear from someone caught between two worlds. I hope we can someday find a way to collectively celebrate and embrace individuals and their cultures, without pressuring conformity one way or another...

Reinforcing the stereotype? But.. as a Norwegian I can tell you that's the best stereotype, there are few groups left in the world as pure as the Sami and the reindeer herding.

amazing documentary

thanks for sharing! 💎👍

As a Native American, namely a Crow Native (in America), I am drawn to all indigenous peoples of the world. My interest is the common thread we share; the common struggle endured and survived by the indigenous peoples - that of assimilation, oppression, domination, shaming, and genocide. I rack my brain trying to understand why the dominate persons that be, starting eons ago, would devote all their energy to oppress people whom they believe are less superior than they are. There will never be a genuine answer to the acts of the oppressor, only now the oppressed must heal and find inner strength. I am certain of this strength as the indigenous people are still here on this earth!!!

I send you a greeting from Barcelonia (Catalonia).

Thank you from USA via Lake Inari.

I’m a distant Sámi, I don’t think I can even call myself Sámi at all. My family was assimilated and they erased it from our history. Now the last family I could ask about it is long dead and I feel lost from my ancestry. We were some of the Sámi that were forced down to Sweden then traveled to Canada and from there we moved down to America. It was all before my time but the only other Sámi descendent is my mom.

Such interesting people . Beautiful people.

Their language is so beautiful and unique

All cultures grow and change and some disappear. For example, those groups that crossed the Bearing Straight and migrated down the coast to the Amazon changed as they went. Change is natural. It is also natural to want to preserve - up to you - and it is neither a good nor bad thing.

... Just because I never woke up with a Dragon Boat at the foreshore and an Ulfberh+T sword in my hand! Does not make me less of a Scandinavian Scotsman... \I/...

Beautiful people and culture. It is interesting that no matter the people, the culture, the location, there always seems to end up class divisions. In this case the elitists with their reindeer and the others below. I guess, as with everything else, when money/value is connected, it usually becomes corrupted in time.

Thousands of Sami and Karelians migrated to Ireland after the Irish famine at the invite of English landlords. They were given Irish names and still herd on the landscape. A forgotten history so to speak.

I'm Brazilian and I took an ancestry test - the result was mostly 48% of European origin (Portugal, Italy, France, Holland) with 5% of this percentage being in the Fenoscandian region - where the Sami live - Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, in addition to this I have indigenous Tupi ancestors for my mother and part European ancestors for my father. I was very happy to have the Sami as my ancestors and I also have a lot of respect and affection for these nations Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, my Sami ancestors were from one of these countries in the long past. so I send kisses and hugs to my Sami brothers. God bless them

Hail my ancestors! The inside of me is my home. It will follow me wherever I go. Saami blood, here in CO of USA.

love the grandma!

Interesting documentary.

Sami are a Nomadic people...they are those that travel and see the land and all it has to offer it is a beautiful thing

This guy is deeply bothered by the reindeer stereotypes.

I have deep respect for the Saami people and I’d love to work with them and learn more about there culture. I wish they’d be a bit more open

Beautiful xxx

I love the Samy peaple. ❤️❤️

Me being a sea sámi have been hard. People dont think me as a "real sámi" but we never had reindeers

Hello. I am Saami also, and in America. I had a blood test done, and they said I am Saami and Swedish. BUT, they wouldn't leave it there. Though I didn't have other "markers", they (National Geographic) said I am closest to Danish heritage. How did my parents keep this blood? My father is 100% Swedish, and my mother 100% Saami. All my life, I have been different than these strangers in America. They do not understand me, and I have never understood myself. My urges, my instincts.. my needs. I identified with the Native Americans here, though I am not one of them. I have had no land and no family. I understand your struggle. My friend, it could be worse. It is an "essence" issue, not a political one. My life proves that the Saami people, to their core, are Saami. Love from America - the land of lizards. I wish I was there.

great! be proud!

Take a look at the Hopi and Akima's corn and understand how old Sami is. You are my lost heritage that connects with the land but I think what was important was living a balanced life. The hopi has dry farming and corn that lives to serve as the last good examples to the 'progress monster west' way of life that is imbalanced. It's a miracle of itself for something like that to survive. The stereotype is hard to view the same but you should be proud of what you are and what you could do. The Sami could survive indefinitely just like the hopi leading a simple life.

Great stuff

Interesting that the musical theme in the song he plays on the guitar has American country/blues roots.

I am Sami, my grandparents came to Minnesota during the persecution by greedy people. Grandfather always had the sauna stook and ready each Saturday, and all my cousins were there. Laplanders are some the most intelligent people in the world.

More people should watch Im going to share.

I'm mix of sea Sami & inland Sami, I have seen myself as Sami before Norwegian. But it was a taboo in the 70 & 80s when I was growing up. 🙂

I am Kurdish ♡ love Sami people

Reindeers are stunningly gorgeous 😘😘😘😘😘😘😘!

Nice life style.

Don’t ever give up. My family once were saami but we r now only part. I tell my children this is something to talk about. The reason is because the educated people desired to exterminate saami should never be forgotten. Fight for your right because it’s in your blood not in what you own. I live in Texas and as they say remember the Alamo because a fight is worth fighting even to all last breath. Never be ashamed make them ashamed for doing what they have done. They claim purity when we all know what they have done.

Dude,this is cool 🙂🙂🙂🙂

It's doesn't matter if one owns Reindeer or not.... Doesn't determine if one's Sami. It's MUCH DEEPER.

Sami lerle bir film sayesinde tanıştım....cok etkilendim💛

❤️ love warriors 🔥 much respect and Big hugh Fran México. Noyotl hue papauki yaotecatls- yaocihuatls

the sea sámi have not owned reindeer for centuries, but are still sámi

thank you so much for this movie!! very important. we'd love to include a few shots in our doc on Sami resistance, could you pass us an email address so that we can send you more details? thanks a lot! :)

I am Australian. I look Italian, this brought formation of opinions on me just because of the way I looked. I hope the Sami people can retain their identity and be free. For some reason, I feel an affection for the Sami, I don’t really know why, I just feel it. My partner looks Like a Sami, I met her before I knew who the Sami are. Rob…

Its kind of sad that even amongst indigenous people, you can be not indigenous enough.

I do not understand the focus on reindeer..it's like saying an American Indian is no longer an Indian without the buffalo. What you are..is in your DNA and heritage, it is not connected to an animal

The sami people are so interesting. I'm really glad Norway changed its constitution to bring sami culture/language back to life and to preserve it.

Your heritage is all those who came before you to make you who you are; regardless of what you choose to do in life. You cannot - not be Sammi if you are Sammi. If others are not Sammi; for what reasons should they care who is or is not? Denying you reindeer does not make you any less Sammi. You can come to Alaska and be a Sami reindeer herder, no one should deny you, if you chose to; as currently there are decendents of Sammi's who came there in late 1800's shown in other documentaries and they are not presently reindeer herders.

There is so much conjecture in these comments. Sarri's struggle with identity around whether he does or doesn't belong to our overall community is a simplified struggle that is a result of identity repression and genocide committed on us by the Swedish state. Two hundred years ago the idea of your occupation identifying where or to what group you belong to would have been nonsense to a Sámi community. Sarri's feeling that other Sámi don't accept him because he doesn't own reindeer, I think comes from his own struggle to find his place in our community after having not been brought up knowing his role or connection to the history of our lands. He says he was taken south and raised, and now is trying to find his own adult identity. When you separate someone from their cultural being and they don't grow up knowing the stories and places that their history is connected to, you shatter their sense of identity. It also confounds those that are and always have been connected, and I think this is why Sarri feels such a sense of rejection around the reindeer trope. To me, this sounds like a case of shouldered cultural inadequacy. Similarly, when someone takes a home DNA test and find out they share 2% genetic markers with Sámi people and decide they want to adopt a new persona as a proud Sámi person without having lived a life with any true sense of the history of what it means to be Sámi, they are often frustrated and confused by our rejection of their desire to belong. Being Sámi IS more than just your blood, and it always will be. The generations (even today) of cultural censure and erasure, have made us fiercely possessive and protective of our identity, so I do see how someone who feels they should be openly embraced as a Sámi person could feel betrayed by a community that seems skeptical and distant. I do see some humour is his rejection of the portrayal of reindeer in his art though, because in this area we are all mountain Sámi, and reindeer has been the singular means by which we have survived for thousands of years. Seems a strange cultural icon to omit, but when you hear his own personal struggle with identity, you understand that its not really about reindeer at all.

This happened to the Aboriginie as well. You only find peace when you are able to express your culture. My wife can not where we live in the US.