From Lapland to Sápmi

Collecting and Returning Sámi Craft and Culture.,
by Barbara Sjoholm.
This cultural history of objects and collections originating in Sapmi tells the story of the indigenous Sámi of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, and unfolds across borders and centuries. Sámi objects created for daily and ceremonial use were purchased and taken by Scandinavians and other travelers in Lapland from the seventeenth century to the present, and the collections map a complex history that is gradually shifting to a renaiissance of Sámi culture and craft, along with the return of many historical objects to Sápmi, the Sámi homeland. The Sámi objects that non-indigenous people collected were initially comprised of drums and other sacred artifacts but later came to include handmade knives, decorated spoons, clothing, and other domestic items from Sámi reindeer herders and fishers. Displays of Sámi culture in museums became part of racist and colonial discource, and bring to light histories of collecting, displaying, and returning Sami material culture, as well as stories of Sami creativity. 
Hardcover, 346pp. 2023