Lapps lose the fight against civilisation

Press, 24 October 1984, Page 38

Lapps lose the fight against civilisation

For centuries, the Lapps have inhabited the harsh tundra wastelands of northern Norway. The tundra extends into parts of Finland and Sweden. In the brief summer months of the midnight sun, and in the depth of the dark winter, with its temperatures around minus 40 degrees Celsius, the Lapps follow the reindeer herds across snowbound, traditional nomadic routes. The Lapps are a tough, resilient people, but less than 15 per cent of the estimated population of 30,000 remain true to a lifestyle based on herding reindeer, and their arduous way of life seems doomed to disappear within another generation. Until the advent of civilisation, with its radioactive fall-out from bomb tests (which has passed from the reindeer, which eat the affected moss, into the systems of those who eat the animals’ meat), its supermarkets, and consumer goods, the Lapps were virtually self-sufficient. The Lapps blended in with their reindeer as nomads, following the semi-wild herds from pasture to pasture — and they flourished. Now they have begun to adapt to a changing world,, living in permanent settlements, often preferring permanent homes to their hide tents. Some own television sets, ready-made clothes, and obtain goods with money, whereas before they met their own needs, and bartered among themselves. Changes in the environment have also had an effect. Previously, only the nomads could travel with safety across the 'frozen snows of the tundra in mid-winter. Now, all-weather roads make the journey a matter of course for travellers in their modern vehicles. A few still keep to the old ways, making their traditional migratory treks with their herds. With each passing season the treks become more likely to be the last, as these hardy survivors themselves succumb to the lure of civilisation.

Pictures: JUTKA RONA,

Camera Press, London.