We set out very early on a dark, rainy morning in Lofoten for the Inga Sami Siida (best described as a reindeer farm), with the thought of petting a reindeer in the back of our heads. Along the way, the scenery was beautiful, with snowy mountain skylines and partially frozen aqua-blue waters. The bus ride to the farm was long and most of the class slept, while some of us spent the time watching movies. When we arrived after the long, sleepy bus ride full of anticipation and walked out into crisp air. We were promptly greeted by the first animals of our visit… not reindeer, but two lively border collies! We all gathered around the dogs to pet them and play snowball fetch as many exclaimed how much we missed our own pets while we were away.
Soon after, we were ushered into our classroom for the day, a large kota, which is a Sami style of building. The building was round, so one, the wind goes around the building, rather than hitting it directly, and two, it can accommodate a fire in the center. We gathered around the lit hearth, facing each other in the circular classroom as the heat thawed our frozen hands. Our teacher for the day, a woman named Lena, welcomed us with a joik. A joik is a traditional style of Sami singing, usually done without any lyrics. Rather, it is a soulful style of singing that is used to evoke a certain emotion or theme, and has become a very important symbol of Sami art and independence. We sat in the warm circle as we listened to stories of the Sami fight for rights and recognition, and of course, the rare art of reindeer herding! There was a sense of peace, as the kota was very cozy.
Eventually, we wandered out into the daylight, with a new objective: feed the reindeer. There was a pen right next to the kota, with 15 or so hungry reindeer anticipating their lunch. Many of them were babies, some born within the past few weeks. None of the reindeer really had names- they’re allowed to come and go from the mountains as they please, so it doesn’t make much sense to name them. We grabbed pellets of food out of a bucket and walked into the pen. Immediately, we were approached by the clear leader of the pack, the biggest and whitest reindeer of them all. We held our hands out and immediately he vacuumed up the food. It was a strange sensation, having the reindeer eat out of our palms. Their lips smacked together as they quickly and efficiently sucked up all the pellets they could get. While we fed them, we pet them. Their coats were soft but incredibly thick, most certainly an evolutionary adaptation to the harsh Norwegian winters. All in all, learning about Sami practices and getting to feed reindeer was a very rewarding experience, one that will be cherished for a long time.
