The Sámi people are indigenous people who have lived in the Arctic Circle from time immemorial. Their habitat extends across Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Russian peninsula of Kola. The social identity of the Sámi, like that of any indigenous people, is linked to religion. The Sámi, primarily a shamanistic-animistic religiously oriented people, have been forced over the centuries to abandon their own religion and adopt a newly emerging religion: Christianity. The arrival of Christianity did not only mean a change of religion, but the impact was broader ‒ it was both, social and cultural. Due to the close connection between the cultural, socio-political and religious life of the Sámi, this master thesis aims to synthetically present the religious life of the Sámi through the different historical periods (the period up to the 15th century, the period from the 16th to the 19th century, and the 20th and 21st century), and at the same time evaluate the socio-political and cultural impact of Christianity on the identity of the Sámi. Through the historical and religious changes discussed in the thesis, we learn about the course of acceptance of Christianity and its positive and negative assimilation impact, and on the other hand the right to preserve traditional culture among the Sámi in the past and today.
|
