https://phys.org/news/2024-11-engraved-trees-smi-culture.html
Archaeologists analyzed trees engraved by the Indigenous Sámi of Arctic Europe, revealing the significance of these rare remnants of Sámi culture and the importance of preserving them from ongoing deforestation.
The Sámi are the Indigenous people of Sápmi, a region in northern Europe that encompasses northern Fennoscandia and north-west Russia.
They followed an animistic religion, but a concentrated effort by the Scandinavian Church in the 17th century AD led to the destruction of religious artifacts and a decline in the Sámi oral tradition, meaning their culture and history is under threat.
However, one important aspect of the Sámi culture managed to survive this repression. Some trees throughout Sápmi were incised with markings holding social and religious significance.
"Unlike most other sacred objects, standing trees are not easy to collect and they have generally eluded the ambitions of the Church to erase the traces of the Indigenous religion," states co-author of the research, Dr. Ingela Bergman from INSARC/Silvermuseet.
...
They identified hundreds of Scots pine trees in the northern boreal forests of Fennoscandia, predominantly in national parks, engraved with X-marks and geometric patterns.According to the ethnographic research, trees were seen by the Sámi as mediators between people and deities. They also had pragmatic uses, acting as boundary markers and navigational aids in the harsh, seasonal landscape of the northern boreal forests.
Journal Reference: Ingela Bergman et al, X-marked trees: carriers of Indigenous Sámi traditions, Antiquity (2024). DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2024.184
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Friday November 29, @06:35AM (1 child)
Unfortunately, religious and cultural intolerance has resulted in the persecution of numerous groups throughout the world, and it is still relatively common today.
I wonder if we will ever just 'get along' with each other? It doesn't seem likely.
I am not interested in knowing who people are or where they live. My interest starts and stops at our servers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 29, @11:07AM
Back in the day, when the peninsula was under a single kingdom more or less, one of the kings had the policy of leaving the Sámi alone to live under their own culture, religion, and rules. Later the Sámi felt left behind and wanted to get up to speed. As a result they were subsequently treated exactly like all the other ethnic groups on the peninsular were treated and thus subjected to standardized language, religion, and politics. Now they are bent out of shape about that, too.
You can't have it both ways.
On top of that, part of this is about the millennia old squabbling between Sámi groups. Basically it looks like every extended famil extended family groupy group competes with and squabbles with every other extended family group in their region. The recent decades have taken the fight to include the definition of Sámi. Now that there is that sweet sweet UN and EU money within reach, each group wants the definition to include their group but be worded such that everyone else is excluded. Those with reindeer vs those who live in areas that were predominantly Sámi speaking vs those who speak Sámi but live in the capitol vs those who happen to have a grandmother or two who were Sámi vs those whose ancestors were nomadic vs those who stayed in on place and so on.