Sami Relations with Russia in Sami Folk Tales
One in a series on the rich storytelling tradition of the Sami. For the next post in the series, click here — Overview
Two stories from the late nineteenth century recorded by Just Knud Qvigstad indicate tense relations between the Sami of Finnmark and their neighbors to the east. Called “Tchouktke,” they were likely Russian, since Finland was under the control of Russia until the Treaty of Tartu in 1920.
The Sami feared the Russians, and some had taken to living underground, as seen in the story of the spider.
These are my paraphrases of the French translation of Qvigstad’s work by Jacques Privat.
The Spider Who Saved a Man’s Life
A Tchouktche was chasing a Sami man. The man jumped into a hole in the ground. A spider happened by and spun a web to cover the opening of the hole. When the Tchouktche arrived at the hole, he saw the web and left to rejoin his comrades.
This is why the Sami have a superstition to never kill a spider. (Qvigstad, p. 137).
Spoon Story
A Sami man was cooking stew in his gamma. His little boy was shooting at flies with his bow inside the gamma. The man saw the reflection of a Tchouktche on the surface of his stew and realized he was spying on them through the vent hole in the roof above.
He quietly asked his son for his bow. Pretending to aim at a fly, he tipped the bow toward the ceiling and shot the Russian through the vent hole.
Going outside, he realized the man wasn’t dead, so he forced him to confess where his friends were before he killed him.
Gathering his son, he went to the mountain where the friends were gathered around a fire. One man who was wearing armor had his mouth open and was holding a spoon. The Sami man shot the spoon so precisely that it slid into the man’s mouth and suffocated him. The other Russians didn’t see the Sami, accused one of their own men, and fought each other until they all died.
To this day, this particular mountain in Leirbotn is called the Hill of the Tchouktche. (Qvigstad, pp. 139-140).
Photo by Karen Nyenhuis. Antique German lead reindeer and Sami doll from a family collection.
Source: J.K. Qvigstad, Contes de Laponie, adaptation en français par Jacques Privat, Editions Esprit Ouvert, 2008, pp. 55-56.