A goahti (Northern Sámi), goahte (Lule Sámi), gåhte (Pite Sámi), gåhtie (Ume Sámi) or gåetie (Southern Sámi), (also ''gábma''), (

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

: ''gamme'',

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

: ''kota'',

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: ''kåta''), is a

Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...

hut A hut is a small dwelling, which may be constructed of various local materials. Huts are a type of vernacular architecture because they are built of readily available materials such as wood, snow, ice, stone, grass, palm leaves, branches, hid ...

or tent of three types of covering: fabric, peat moss or timber. The fabric-covered goahti looks very similar to a Sami

lavvu Lavvu (or se, lávvu, smj, låvdagoahte, smn, láávu, sms, kååvas, sjd, коавас (''kåvas''), fi, kota or umpilaavu, no, lavvo or sametelt, and sv, kåta) is a temporary dwelling used by the Sami people of northern extremes of North ...

, but often constructed slightly larger. In its tent version the goahti is also called a 'curved pole' lavvu, or a 'bread box' lavvu as the shape is more elongated while the lavvu is in a circular shape.

Construction

The interior construction of the poles is thus: 1) four poles curved at one end ( long), 2) one straight horizontal center pole ( long), and 3) approximately a dozen straight wall-poles ( long). All the pole sizes can vary considerably. The four curved poles curve to about a 130° angle. Two of these poles have a hole drilled into them at one end, with those ends being joined together by the long horizontal center pole that is inserted by the described poles. The other two curved poles are also joined at the other end of the long pole. When this structure is set up, a four-legged stand is formed with the long pole at the top and center of the structure. With the four-legged structure standing up to about five to eight feet in height, approximately ten or twelve straight "wall-poles" are laid up against the structure. The goahti covering, today made usually of canvas, is laid up against the structure and tied down. There can be more than one covering that covers the structure. The differences between the goahti and the lavvu can be seen when looking at the top of structures. A lavvu will have its poles coming together, while the goahti will have its poles separate and not coming together. The turf version of the goahti will have the canvas replaced with wood resting on the structure covered with

birch bark Birch bark or birchbark is the bark of several Eurasian and North American birch trees of the genus ''Betula''. The strong and water-resistant cardboard-like bark can be easily cut, bent, and sewn, which has made it a valuable building, craftin ...

then

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficient ...

to provide a durable construction.

Transportation and usability

Traditionally, the Sami transported the whole disassembled structure by having their domesticated

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 sub ...

being used as a pack animal to carry or drag the poles while following their reindeer herd. Today, because of the awkward size of the curved poles, this structure is used less often by the Sami as a transportable shelter. When following their cultural tradition, the Sami more often use the Sami

for their camping structure. In the coastal areas the more resident coastal Sami used the peat goahti as a combined human living and livestock building until the Second World War.

References

* Manker, Ernst and Vorren, Ørnulv. ''Lapp Life and Customs: A Survey''., Trans. Kathleen McFarlane, Oxford University Press London, 1962, p. 42-46
Tromsø Museum, ''Sapmi – becoming a nation''

External links

originally at trollnet.no; now at archive.is
Sørsamisk byggeskikk
tronderskbyggeskikk.no {{Huts Sámi culture Indigenous architecture House types Sámi-language terms Tents