Tiina Äikäs

Sacred and Profane Livelihood: Animal Bones from Sieidi Sites in Northern Finland

In this paper, animal offerings at Sámi sacrificial sites, sieidi (SaaN), will be discussed from an archaeological and a zooarchaeological point of view. Offerings are seen as a part of daily subsistence activities where the border between sacred and profane was fuzzy and transient. We take the position that animal offerings cannot be interpreted as ritual actions clearly separated from everyday life, but, rather, we have to take into account that the relationship between offerings and livelihood was seen as a dynamic one in a holistic worldview. We discuss archaeological finds from three sieidi sites as examples and claim that the offerings taken to sieidi sites tell us about daily subsistence strategies but at the same time also about the relationship between people and animals in the worldview of the Sámi.

Animating rituals at Sámi sacred sites in northern Finland

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.

‘The sieidi is a better altar/the noaidi drum's a purer church bell’: long-term changes and syncretism at Sámi offering sites

Abstract The changes in the Sámi ethnic religion practised by the indigenous people in northern Fennoscandia have often been described in terms of Christianization brought by Lutheran missions. The changes were, however, more long term and multifaceted. Archaeological excavations conducted at Sámi offering places have shown that the ethnic religion was never static, but the offering practices changed with time and in connection with changes in livelihood and society. In addition, syncretistic influences did not just derive from Christianity, but there were various agents and interplay among Christianity, the ethnic religion and contemporary neo-paganism.

New Users and Changing Traditions—(Re)Defining Sami Offering Sites

Sami are indigenous people of Northern Fennoscandia. Some Sami offering sites have been used for over a thousand years. During this time, the offering traditions have changed and various people have started using the places based on different motivations. Present day archaeological finds give evidence of both continuing traditions and new meanings attached to these sites, as well as to sites that were probably not originally used for rituals in the Sami ethnic religion. In some cases, the authenticity of the place seems to lie in the stories and current beliefs more than in a historical continuity or any specifically sacred aspects of the topography or nature it is situated in. Todays new users include, for example, local (Sami) people, tourists, and neo-pagans. This paper discusses what informs these users, what identifies certain locations as offering sites, and what current users believe their relationship to these places should be. What roles do scholarly traditions, heritage tourism, and internal cu...

The ghost of Taavetti Lukkarinen and the haunting legacy of a 1916 hanging site

ABSTRACT On the fringe of the city centre of Oulu, Finland, stands a peculiar memorial commemorating the last death sentence by hanging in Finland. Here people remembered the ill-fate of Taavetti Lukkarinen, a young man in his early 30s, who was hanged for high treason by Russian officers in 1916. In 2014, archaeological excavation at the hanging tree memorial revealed an interesting group of finds consisting of a deliberately fractured proximal end of a calf tibia with two shards of clear glass and an iron wire inserted into its marrow channel, in addition to a rubber shoe heel pad. These finds can be interpreted as a deposit hidden in the base of the memorial to tie the presumably restless soul to the monument. Examples of this kind of magical thinking with connections to, for example, concealed shoes, are known from different parts of the world. The memorial of Taavetti Lukkarinen may therefore be regarded as an example of a place where both individual people and the society tried to deal with a dark and shameful part of their past.

North/South Encounters at Sámi Sacred Sites in Northern Finland

This article focuses on the use of Sámi sacrificial places called sieidi (in North Sámi). Their meanings to the Sámi people changed when the indigenous northern tradition collided with the colonial expansion of Christian culture from the south. Sieidi sites have had a long period of use—from the turn of the first millennium A.D. until the 18th century—in some cases up to the present day. During this time, the influence of the church and agrarian society in the north has increased. Consequently, attitudes toward sieidi and their associated meanings vary widely: some people wish to destroy the “pagan” sites or view them as scientific curiosities, while others use them, alongside Christian churches, as places to practice indigenous beliefs. Sámi attitudes toward the sacrificial sites of their ethnic religion have been in constant dialog with colonial and subsequent neocolonial contacts emanating from the south.

Sámi Archaeology and Postcolonial Theory—An Introduction

While researchers within Sámi archaeology have dealt with issues closely related to postcolonial theory and critique since the 1970s onwards, this has rarely been done with explicit mention or coherent use of this theoretical complex. This somewhat paradoxical situation was addressed in a session at the 14th conference of the Nordic Theoretical Archaeology Group at Stockholm University in April 2014, an initiative that eventually resulted in the present collection of articles. In this introduction we briefly present the historiographical and discursive background for the debates that are outlined in the following contributions.

Constructing a trumped-up future with the pastness of the present? Neo-relics and archaeological heritage

ABSTRACT Neo-relics, constructions borrowing their looks from ancient structures or sites ranging from the mighty Stonehenge to a humble Troy town, have recently been erected in different parts of Finland. In authorized heritage discourse, they are often seen as a potential threat. However, we demonstrate here, with a variety of examples from various social contexts, how ordinary people assign meanings and functions to archaeological heritage through them. We also approach the question of their authenticity by applying Cornelius Holtorf’s materialistically infused constructivist definition of pastness – a property related to an object’s age-value rather than its actual age – to find out why personal involvement, localness and stories are important features in enhancing pastness. Finally, instead of seeing neo-relics as a threat for archaeological heritage and interpretation, we propose that they be embraced as a novel way for people to experience and interact with the past.

Hanging tree as a place of memories – Encounters at a 1916 execution site

ABSTRACT Near the city centre of Oulu in northern Finland, one comes across a peculiar monument: a pine tree turned into a memorial that marks the site of the last official execution by hanging in the country. Archaeological excavations took place at the hanging site in August 2014, not only to gather archaeological evidence on the history and use of the memorial, but also in order to offer people a way to share their memories and recollections of this rather unusual place. In this article we discuss the data gained from interviews (N = 20) conducted in connection with the excavations. The interpretation of the data shows that the hanging tree memorial has been and continues to be a place of both private and communal memories. It has been used for private gatherings and visits as well as for nationalistic purposes. The authenticity of this site as the actual place of hanging can be reasonably questioned, but the place is still important for local people.

Tradition and transformation in Sámi animal-offering practices

Abstract Archaeological evidence for ritual animal offerings is key to understanding the formation and evolution of indigenous Sámi identity in Northern Fennoscandia from the Iron Age to the seventeenth century AD. An examination of such evidence can illuminate how major changes, such as the shift from hunting to reindeer pastoralism, colonialism by emerging state powers and Christianisation, were mediated by the Sámi at the local level. To explore the chronology of, and local variations in, Sámi animal-offering tradition, we provide a synthesis of archaeozoological data and radiocarbon dates from 17 offering sites across Norway, Sweden and Finland. Analysis reveals new patterns in the history of Sámi religious ritual and the expression of Sámi identity.