Siida

The siida (Swedish sameby ) is a Sami community use by many family and household units in a common hunting and resource area. , " Kylä " ( Finnish) and " Pogost " (Russian ) reproduced; Add the sources of the neighboring peoples, the term with " Finneby ", " Finn Fjord" (Norwegian), " Lappby " ( " sameby " from 1971 Swedish).

The size of the area and the rules of the community were subject to great changes over time and in different regions, depending on the changes of the acquisition. In the earlier way of life as hunters siida formed a spatial, social and economic unit. Usually between six and 14 households were closed in a siida that the wild, the fish and the pastures used in common. But there were also those with 25-30 households. Families were often related or by marriage. This type of community has held for the longest and is best explored at the Ostsamen ( Kola Peninsula and South -Varanger ): In spring and summer, the individual households wirtschafteten separated and distributed over the various sources of income, ie rivers and lakes, hunting areas, grazing land, fishing grounds at sea. In autumn and winter they rallied to the common living spaces to jointly operate on hunting wild reindeer and maintain social contacts. A siida was at least so large that they could ask a hunting team of eight to 12 adult hunters. But some also included several such hunting communities. The Community booty was divided proportionally among the households. In the ostsamischen sites is known that the siida were ruled by a council of elders, which was formed from the heads of households.

After the transition to reindeer nomadism in the 16th century, the term " siida " designated a community of small-scale reindeer holders, which is defined by kinship connections with a group of siblings or their children as the core. The reindeer herding requires a high degree of flexibility, depending on the size of the herd, the quality of pastures and climatic conditions. Through the kinship network, this siida has the ability to arrange the common living spaces, hiking and work in relation to the annual cycle very flexible. While the siida holds the reindeer in a defined area in the winter, they are divided in spring in individual herds, when the animals calve and must be re-marked. Then the herds come to the summer pasture together again. The size of the siida and their number in an area varies with the number of reindeer.

In Sweden every sameby has a defined area in which grazing own reindeer and where the summer camp of the associated reindeer herder families are. The division was established in 1886 by the Swedish State. From Idre in central Sweden to Treriksröset on the Norwegian- Finnish border, there are 51 Samebyar. Only 32 of them are located in the province of Norrbotten.

Already in the 16th century there was a division of the entire settlement area of the seeds in " Lappbyar " ( see map). There is little overlap of today Samebyer with the old Lappbyar.

One of the best known Sami villages in Sweden is Staloluokta in Padjelanta National Park.