Based on the title of Barbara Sjoholm’s book, readers, especially those familiar with Sámi culture, might reasonably assume her focus concerns the ongoing struggles facing the indigenous populations of Fenno-Scandia as they seek to solidify their status as an independent polity. In other words, moving away from the concept of a minority situated in generic Lapland, and moving toward the establishment of a recognized region of their own, Sápmi. While this book does indeed address these issues, Sjoholm adopts a new and insightful approach, one that concentrates exclusively on how Sámi culture has been presented and manipulated through materials collected and distributed across much of Europe in both historical and contemporary periods. As Sjoholm quickly demonstrates, this process has contributed to a lasting impression of Sámi culture that is rife with exoticism and stereotyping, that only recently has been challenged successfully from within the affected communities by artisans, writers and musicians, utilizing both established forms (e.g., handcrafts, song, storytelling) and incorporating new modes of expression (e.g., painting, sculpture, theater).

The book is divided into three sections, each of which contains examples of how materials collected during specific eras made their way into museums and private institutions, typically without any contextual information other than the accounts of the collectors themselves. As a result, misinformation and half-truths meant that many of these objects were either completely misrepresented, or simply displayed without any explanation whatsoever, leaving observers to create their own interpretations of Sámi culture, adding to the mysteries shrouding the inhabitants of Lapland.

Sjoholm’s first section, Northern Curiosities, addresses the origins of this fascination with Europe’s far northern region, starting with the earliest descriptions of the Sámi by explorers and missionaries, who tended toward comparisons in which the Sámi invariably emerged either as naïve “natural” people or heathens. One startling example of this was the role the naturalist Carl Linnaeus played in promulgating such images through his writings and lectures in Sweden and abroad. Linnaeus frequently appeared in public in traditional Sámi costume (gákti) and playing a shaman’s drum as he explained his own interpretations of this culture; his scholarly fame obviously added credence to his claims. Other examples in this section include the creation of live dioramas, in which Sámi individuals and families were put on display in London and other urban locations in the nineteenth century, dressed in gákti and surrounded by examples of their handcrafts, yet they were expected to conform to prevailing notions of their exotic lifestyle, far removed from their own reality.

In the second section, Collecting, Sjoholm moves deftly into the systematic collecting activities of national institutions like the Nordic Museum in Stockholm beginning in the latter half of the nineteenth century and extending well into the post WWII era. While these efforts were more organized and included a great deal more effort to include contextual information, the overarching impetus was a concern among folklorists and ethnologists (so-called Lappologists) that Sámi culture was disappearing in the face of increasing contact with the dominant Swedish, Norwegian, and Finnish societies. Therefore, these were rescue missions intent on preserving what could be captured, either as material artifacts or via print and recorded media, most often with the intent of sharing the findings among professional institutions and universities rather than future generations of Sámi. A standout in this section concerns the work of Karl Tirén, a railroad employee who between 1910 and 1916 collected Sámi joik, the unaccompanied vocal genre unique to these populations. Tirén was among the first of his generation to use a cylinder recording device to capture musical performances for later transcription and analysis. While Tirén kept detailed notes of those he recorded, his findings weren’t published until 1942 and were printed in German, making them basically inaccessible to a Sámi audience.

The last section, Two Directions, concerns the struggle to repatriate a great deal of the Sámi materials that have been housed in institutions like the Nordic Museum. As Sjoholm demonstrates, this process has followed different trajectories, depending on the items in question and the intended recipients. In some cases, this has meant rethinking how Sámi culture is portrayed by established museums and involving Sámi representatives in the decision-making processes. Alternatively, Norway, Sweden, and Finland have funded the creation of Sámi museums within communities where there is a sizeable Sámi population, empowering the local people to determine how these materials are displayed and interpreted. And finally, there is the revitalization and transformation of Sámi artistic expression in contemporary Sápmi. These efforts range from the return of long overlooked or forgotten handcraft techniques to the use of new media that expand the concept of “Sámi” exponentially both within Sápmi and the broader world, where “Lapland” and “Lapps” have held sway for too long.

In summary Barbara Sjoholm’s From Lapland to Sápmi is a most welcome addition to a gradually growing literature in English concerning northern Europe’s indigenous population. The book is clearly written, and impeccably researched, drawing equally on primary and secondary print sources, and augmented with interviews the author conducted during her travels through Sápmi. While the subject matter is quite specific to the Sámi, I believe this book would be of high importance to those interested in the issues surrounding the collection and storage of intellectual and physical materials removed from societies that often have had no say in the matter, and the difficulties encountered with repatriation efforts by members of these same societies. Sjoholm’s book addresses the complexity of these problems and offers the suggestion that they can be successfully resolved when the right forces align. Highly recommended.

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[Review length: 924 words • Review posted on October 25, 2024]