Animating rituals at Sámi sacred sites in northern Finland

Abstract

This article concentrates on the performative nature of rituals at Sámi sacred sites called sieidi in northern Finland. These sites are usually natural objects, such as stones, unshaped by humans. Offerings, such as reindeer antlers, crania, meat, metal, and alcohol, were made to the sieidi in order to ensure future hunting success. In this article, the concept of ritual as performative action is used as a tool to emphasize how practices, senses, and emotions comprised different parts of the rituals that took place at sieidi sites. Understanding ritual as performative action helps us to animate the rituals at sieidi sites with other people, animals, sounds, smells, movements, and feelings. We also seek to re-evaluate the context-related nature of the rituals. Finally, we discuss the implications for the interpretation of such sites where there are no material traces of offerings.

Animal offerings at the Sámi offering site of Unna Saiva – Changing religious practices and human–animal relationships

“…The dominance of reindeer bones is a typical feature of Sámi animal offering sites in Northern Fennoscandia, and typically ca. 80-100% of NISP and 30-100% of MNI belong to the reindeer (Mulk, 2009;Salmi et al, 2011).…”

“…3), apart from a slight overrepresentation of mandibles, which may be due to the good preservation of the durable mandibular bone. Ovicaprid bones are also sometimes encountered at Sámi offering sites, although in Finland, they have only been discovered at sites situated in Inari municipality (Gejvall, 1956;Salmi et al, 2011). Ovicaprid individuals of all ages were present at Unna Saiva.…”

“…Archaeologists were interested in Sámi offering sites first in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but only cursory overviews of the fieldwork were published (Hallström, 1932, see also Okkonen, 2007). In recent years, interest towards Sámi offering sites has been revived among archaeologists in Finland, Norway, and Sweden, with new research questions and more ethically sensitive approaches towards indigenous sacred sites (Hedman, 2003;Holand, 2006;Myrvoll, 2008;Mulk, 2009;Äikäs et al, 2009;Äikäs, 2011;Salmi et al, 2011;Äikäs and Salmi, 2013;Spangen, 2013). The archaeological investigations have revealed new information on the details and chronology of Sámi offering practices, although small sample sizes and limited numbers of excavations have hindered the interpretative power of the results.…”

Sacrifice or Offering: What Can We See in the Archaeology of Northern Europe?

“…The same tendency of the mixing of the two terms concurrently in English texts is evident in publications by Finno-Ugric scholars as well (e.g. Jonuks 2009b;Wessman 2009;Oras 2010;Salmi et al 2011). The words 'sacrifice' and 'offering' often occur simultaneously and are utilised as synonyms.…”

From Fell Tops to Standing Stones: Sacred Landscapes in Northern Finland

“…The oldest bone finds from sieidi sites in Finland date from the 13th century, and the most recent ones from the 17th century (Salmi et al, 2011).…”