Siida

The siida is a Sami local community that has existed from time immemorial. A siida (in different Sami languages cearru, siida, sita, kite), or a "reindeer pastoralistic district," is a Sami reindeer foraging area, a group for reindeer herding and a corporation working for the economic benefit of its members. The reindeer herding siida has formed as an adaptation of ancient siida principles to large-scale nomadic reindeer herding. It is termed a sameby ("Sami village") in Swedish law, reinbeitesdistrikt ("reindeer pasture district") in Norwegian law, and paliskunta in Finnish law. The pastoralistic organisation differs slightly between countries, except in Russia, where kolkhoz has replaced these earlier organisations.

In Sweden, membership in a siida follows "pastoralistic rights" based on statute of limitations, and is limited to individuals of Sami descent. These rights also include hunting and fishing for profit. There are 33 mountain siidas, 10 forest siidas and 8 concession siidas, divided by historical extent, summer and winter pasture usage, etc. Membership is required to practice pastoralistic rights. This is required for reindeer ownership as well, except in concession siidas, where even non-members can own "serve reindeers", served by siida members who receiving concession to pasture lands in payment. This custom originates in older conventions when reindeer were used by settled local populations in daily life. The economic activity in present-day siidas is limited to profit from pastoralistic rights. In addition to the geographical and economic nature of the siida, it also ties the members together culturally and socially.

Siida (museum)

Siida is a museum located on Lake Inari in the village of Inari in Inari, Finland. It is home to the Sámi Museum and Northern Lapland Nature Centre. Siida arranges exhibitions on Sámi culture and the nature of Northern Lapland. In addition, Siida has an open-air museum open in the summers, which was originally known as the Inari Sámi Museum. The first buildings were moved to the museum grounds in 1960. The 7-hectare (17-acre) area has nearly 50 sites of interest related to Lapland's nature and the Sámi and their culture. Furthermore, the area is where the earliest settlers in Northern Lapland lived and archaeological finds from approximately 9,000 years ago have been found.

External links

Media related to Siida at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 68°54′39″N 027°00′49″E / 68.91083°N 27.01361°E / 68.91083; 27.01361