The origin of this volume is a symposium on Sámi healing practices that was held at the Arctic University in Tromsø, Norway, in 2010. The papers included are based on… Click to show full abstract
The origin of this volume is a symposium on Sámi healing practices that was held at the Arctic University in Tromsø, Norway, in 2010. The papers included are based on presentations given at that conference. The book is the second volume in a series entitled Patterns of Northern Traditional Healing. The value of the book lies in the fact that, while certain healing traditions, for example, Chinese medicine, have attracted much attention and have indeed become commonplace adjuncts to traditional Western methods of healing, little research has been undertaken in local northern healing methods. The book is one of the first English-language studies of the traditional healing methods of the Sámi. In their perspective, illness is viewed as primarily a social and cultural phenomenon. The Sámi are an indigenous people with a range covering territories that correspond to the far northern regions of modern-day Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. The historical territory of the Sámi is known as Sápmi. The Sámi share a common language group deriving from the Uralic language family, which, in turn, consists of two main groups, the Samoyedic languages and the Finno-Ugric language. However, the Sámi have been dispersed and culturally divided. The Sámi have traditionally been primarily nomadic reindeer herders but have pursued a variety of subsistence practices, including coastal fishing, particularly, as might be expected, among the Sámi living in coastal regions, and also fur trapping and sheep herding. Frequently, these activities were combined. Today, no more than about 10% of the Sámi are actively connected with reindeer herding. Like many other indigenous peoples, the Sámi have always relied on traditional healing methods. Also, like Book Reviews
               
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