Today, the book From the Past to the Future: Knud Leem’s 1725 Account and 300 Years of
Sámi Reindeer Herding Knowledge is launched, a unique work that combines new research
and traditional knowledge with a historical classic. Leem was the first professor in Saami
language.
The book is the result of a collaboration between Sámi allaskuvla/Sámi University College
and the International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry (ICR), and is edited by Dr. Inger Marie
Gaup Eira, Professor Svein D. Mathiesen, Director Anders Oskal ICR and GEF UNEP
project manager Marina Tonkopeeva ICR.
A central contribution to the book is the English translation of Knud Leem’s main
ethnographic work from 1767, Description of the Finmarkens Lapper, their Language, Way of
Life and Previous Worship of Idols, originally published in Danish/Norwegian and Latin. This
is not a reprint of the original Danish and Norwegian text, but the first time the work has been
presented in an English language version. Even a Russian version of the book published in
1790 exist. The Norwegian and Sami editions are in preparation.
Leem’s text, based on his fieldwork and close interaction with Sami communities in
Finnmark, especially the reindeer herding Sami who had their summer grazing areas in
Porsanger, provides an in-depth picture of Sami life in the 18th century. The English edition
also includes detailed descriptions of language, religion, clothing, settlement, social
organization, siida structures, classification of reindeer, gender roles and child rearing.
Through thorough footnotes and comments, translation challenges and previous
misunderstandings in the English edition from 1808, which was largely based on Leem’s
Latin text, are also highlighted.
– This is a book that both preserves Leem’s original observations and at the same time
anchors them in modern research and insight, says editor Anders Oskal.
The book goes on to shed light on 300 years of Sami reindeer herding knowledge and how
this knowledge has been maintained and passed on to the present day, including through the
siida system, castration techniques, migration patterns, duodji, the use of weather signs and
orientation by the starry sky.
A separate chapter, written by Dr. Nellejet Zorgdrager, explores how European travelers and
mapmakers from the 16th to the 20th centuries described Sami reindeer herding nomadism,
based on sources in Latin, German, English and French. This helps to place Leem’s work in
a larger scientific-historical context.
– This is not just a book about reindeer herding. It is a book about Sami language, society,
sustainability and survival, and about how knowledge is shaped, both from within and
without, says Dr. Inger Marie Gaup Eira.
– By combining Leem’s historical observations with today’s Sami perspectives and
professional insight, we get an unusually rich picture of the knowledge base of reindeer
husbandry, both then and now, adds Professor Svein D. Mathiesen.
The book is published as “open access” and can be downloaded for free: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-93339-4
For more information, contact:
[email protected]
International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry (ICR)
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.reindeercentre.org
https://reindeerherdingandresilience.org