Emily Thornberry MP's Blog

Arctic wisdom - day 7

Dog sled Kilpisjarvi - Trination Meeting Point - Kilpisjarvi

Today we make a return trip with the dogs to the meeting point of Finland, Norway and Sweden where we cross our third national border.

We will head back to the hotel to part with our thermals and say our thanks and goodbyes to our huskies.  Hopefully we will then be celebrate by eating in a local restaurant and explore more Sámi food. 

Traditional Sámi food can be summed up in two words: meat and fish.  These would be supplemented with herbs and berries when available. Being vegetarian wasn't really an option for the Sami. Much of the meat was from reindeer, which provided excellent nutrition. Every piece of the deer was used, even the skull and blood. The intestines and the reindeer’s stomach can be cleaned and used to make black pudding and buoidecalmmas (a type of smoked, minced reindeer meat mixture).  In the past, the reindeer were milked and cheese was produced, but this is not done any more.

The Sámi dishes have not changed, but new dishes have been added. Renkok is reindeer stew.  Fresh reindeer meat is cooked with a piece of fresh liver, bread baked with blood and rye flour, as well as black pudding made of reindeer blood and flour.  This is eaten with potatoes, soft, sticky bread and a drink of broth.  Dried reindeer meat must is also known as a delicacy.

In the summer months the Sámi picked all the edible berries they could find to gain necessary vitamins.  In the past a green porridge was made from mountain sorrel and/or buds of the angelica flower which were boiled to make a pulp, then heated with reindeer milk until it thickened.  This could then be stored in a keg for the winter months.

I am told that it was the men in the nomadic society that carried out all the cooking.  Only in exceptional circumstances were women allowed to stir the stew!

Food

Food generally works as follows. Reindeer soup for lunch. Herring for breakfast. Reindeer for every lunch and supper.

I could get bored of it, but not yet. 

Breakfast

Breakfast is Reindeer, blood pancake, cucumber and cheese.

After a night sleeping in an igloo, breakfast is welcome.

Arctic wisdom - day 4

Dog sled from Ovre Sopero - Jamara Sami camp

The morning begins with what will become a familiar routine; feed and water the dogs, have breakfast, tidy the cabin and pack the sleds…then off on to the next trail.  From here on vehicles are not able to follow us, it will be snowmobile support from now on. 

The trail leads north, further into the wilderness and up over hilly terrain, with the likelihood of coming across reindeer, one of the most important components of the Sámi livelihood, culture and economy.

Reindeer are well suited to the harsh environment, with fur covering each from top to toe to keep warm, and a large fat reserve to get them through the winter months. They eat over 250 species of plants as well as various types of lichen found hanging in trees. 

At one time the presence of reindeer in a Sámi family affected almost all aspects of their lives, providing a ‘living larder’, taxation, and payments to being used in courting and for marriage.  Up to 1500 the Sámi were mainly fishermen and trappers, living a nomadic lifestyle. This meant they moved with the migration of the reindeer as they sought new pastures to eat. 

After 1500, due to over-hunting to pay taxes to Norway, Sweden and Russia, the number of reindeer started to decrease, and whilst many of the Sámi changed their ways of live to include cattle farming, a small number of Sámi started to tame the reindeer that continue to migrate nowadays.

Whilst reindeer have appeared to decrease in importance, they are still used by the Sámi for traditional purposes, including making crafts from the antlers and other products from the skin to sell.  There are also still plenty for the team to spot given that there are approximately 200,000 in Finland alone, mostly owned by the Sámi.

If we come across any herds of reindeer on the trail we will have to make a diversion to avoid shifting the direction of the herd.  The reindeer want to head north for better vegetation in Norway, but Swedish reindeer farmers face heavy fines if they let their herd go into Norway too soon, so they keep them in Sweden for as long as possible.