History 

The Sámi migrated into the region of Sápmi aome 10,000 years ago when the glaziers melted.

They settled in small groups along the ice-free coastal strips where the land was rich with fish, wildlife, herbs and berries.

Continuing to ,igrate throughout times, they lived in small communities maybe of 20-30 people hunting and gatherin, moving as nomads with the seasons to various hunting and fishing areas. 

Written accounts of Sámi... 

It is often said that the Sámi are some of the most 'studied' people - and indeed the description of Sámi begin very early on some 2000 years ago! 

Tacitus - The first written sources
Foreign people were already writing about the Sámi hundreds of years ago. Most had never met any Sámi themselves, but simply wrote down hearsay. The Sámi were considered to be a fascinating and exotic people. For example, it was considered remarkable that both men and women hunted.

Germania
The first written document to mention the Sámi is believed to date from 98 AD. This is when the Roman historical writer Tacitus, in his book 'Germania', wrote about a people he called the Fenni: "They eat herbs, dress in animal skins and sleep on the ground. The only thing they trust are their arrows with bone tips. Men and women follow each other and support themselves on the same hunt.''

Ottar's account
There is an account of tax collection from the Sámi dating from the 9th century. At that time, a chieftain lived on his farm in the region around what is now Tromsö. He was called Ottar and was in the employ of King Alfred the Great of England. It was King Alfred who gave the order for Ottar's account to be written down. Ottar claimed to own 600 tame reindeer, six of which were 'lure reindeer'. Every year he collected taxes from the Sámi. The richest had to pay 15 martin skins, five reindeer skins, one bearskin, ten bushels of feathers, one bear or otter fur, one ship's cable made of walrus skin and one made of seal skin, each measuring 60 ells (approximately 36 metres). The tax that the Sámi were forced to pay was Ottar's most important source of income.

Egil Skallagrimsson's saga
The Icelandic Egil Skallagrimsson's saga dating from the 13th century tells of how the Viking Torolv Kvällulfsson from Iceland made tax collection and trading voyages to the Sámi. He was accompanied by an armed escort of up to 90 men. Regarding the meeting with the Sámi, it was said that: "Torolv also had a large amount of trading goods with him, and he immediately arranged a meeting with the Finns, collected taxes and held trading meetings. Everything proceeded in an understanding and cordial manner, and fear also played its part in the amenability.''

Viking sagas
The Sámi are also mentioned in the Icelandic Viking sagas, primarily in connection with the trade in skins. For the Vikings, a skin was an important trading item, and the Sámi had plenty of these goods at the time.


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