The complex fertility of indigenous Sami and non-reindeer-herding settlers in Jokkmokk 1815–1895

Abstract

Even though contemporary fertility shows a steady decrease among indigenous populations in the circumpolar area during the twentieth century, they display a far higher fertility compared to the rest of the population's respective countries. In the absence of Swedish modern data on ethnicity, this study concentrates on fertility in historical times to improve our knowledge on Sami fecundity. Using digitized parish records we aim to study nineteenth century fertility among the Sami and non-Sami in an ethnically mixed parish in the Northern Sweden. The sources also enable an intra-ethnic perspective; thus, the study includes comparisons between forest and mountain Sami. The data revealed a Sami fertility deviating not only from their non-Sami neighbors, but also to a Swedish average. Both Sami and non-Sami women had very low birth rates among young women; nevertheless, Sami women gave birth to fewer children than the non-Sami. Toward the end of the nineteenth century non-Sami women showed crude birth rates well above both Sami and a Swedish average. The fertility pattern among the forest and the mountain Sami revealed both social and economic differences within the Sami group.