[blam]

The Sami are often called Lapplanders, which they don't like.

My mtDNA haplotype(female) is 'V' as are 52% of the Skolt Sami. My yDNA(male) is R1b from Scandanavia.

[blam]

The Sami Flag

The Sami Languages

Geographic areas of the Sami languages:

1. South Saami
2. Ume Saami
3. Pite Saami
4. Lule Saami
5. North Saami
6. Enare Saami
7. Skolt Saami
8. Kildin Saami
9. Ter Saami

[Tax-chick]

Snow in Northern Finland in the winter? Who’da thunkit!

[Red_Devil 232]

Come on there have got to be some pictures of these people!

[RobinOfKingston]

"The main problem is that there is no money allocated to manage reindeer feed catastrophes. We have to first survey the extent of the problem and then make an application for disaster aid. This takes time and in the meantime reindeer die and herders become frustrated," explains Ragnhild Svonni at the parliament.

Bureaucrats are bureaucrats, no matter where you find them. The real disaster is putting your trust them and your future in their hands.

I bet all is well with Ragnhild while the survey is conducted, though.

[NorCoGOP]

According to the Sami parliament the situation has not been this bad since 1936 with much of the winter pasture land inaccessible to the herds.

But...the Goracle said everything is melting due to global warming, and that the debate was over...

He couldn't be...wrong? Could he?

[muawiyah]

On the other hand they don't mind being called Lapplanders in Finnish and English.

"Lap", akin to the Latin world "lappu" or "lapu" (cloth) apparantly means something like "worn out rag" in Old West Gothic (aka Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and Dutch).

In Ladino (early form of Spanish peculiar to Jews in Spain) "Lap" or "Lappu" means "paper sheet", and the first makers of paper in Western Europe were accordingly named "Schmidlapp" or "Schmeidelapp". There are various spellings. Of note the fellow who made the first multistage rocket was named "Schmiddlapp" ~ 'cause you gotta' make paper rockets if you live in the Middle Ages!

Depending on the language you say it in "Lapplander" will be OK, or nasty. So be careful speaking Norwegian around most of us on this thread eh?!

[blam]

Bitter Afghan winter kills 650 (Many more amputated - worst cold in 30 years)