Business strategies of the eastern Sami in the Russian Sapmi

Abstract

The Sami are an indigenous people who are inhabiting the northern parts of Fenno-Scandia and Kola Peninsula over the national borders of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia. Although the Sami are one people, they speak different dialects and they can be divided into different cultural groups according to their language, their place of living and traditional livelihoods. The Sami can be divided into eastern and western Sami language groups, who in turn can be divided into smaller groups. In this article, my focus is on the Russian Sami, who have experienced several big changes in the recent past, adapting their strategies from those of the traditional siida society over to the market economy.