The Skolt Sámi or Skolts are a Sami ethnic group. They currently live in and around the villages of

Sevettijärvi Sevettijärvi ( sms, Čeʹvetjäuʹrr, smn, Čevetjävri and se, Čeavetjávri) is a village in the municipality of Inari, Finland approximately north of downtown Inari. Neiden in Norway is approximately away. The village's green, yet s ...

, Keväjärvi,

Nellim Nellim ( fi, Nellim or '; smn, Njellim; sms, Njeäʹllem) is a village on the shore of Lake Inari in Inari, Finland that has three distinctly different cultures: Finns, the Inari Sámi and the Skolt Sámi. Nellim is approximately northeast ...

in the municipality of Inari, at several places in the

Murmansk Oblast Murmansk Oblast (russian: Му́рманская о́бласть, p=ˈmurmənskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ, r=Murmanskaya oblast, ''Murmanskaya oblast''; Kildin Sami: Мурман е̄ммьне, ''Murman jemm'ne'') is a federal subject (an oblast) o ...

and in the village of Neiden in the municipality of

Sør-Varanger Sør-Varanger ( sme, Máttá-Várjjat, fkv, Etelä-Varenki, fi, Etelä-Varanki, russian: Сёр-Вара́нгер/Syor-Varánger) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town ...

. The Skolts are considered to be the

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

of the borderland area between present-day

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

, i.e. on the

Kola Peninsula The Kola Peninsula (russian: Кольский полуостров, Kolsky poluostrov; sjd, Куэлнэгк нёа̄ррк) is a peninsula in the extreme northwest of Russia, and one of the largest peninsulas of Europe. Constituting the bulk ...

and the adjacent Fenno-Scandinavian mainland. They belong to the eastern group of

Sámi The Sámi ( ; also spelled Sami or Saami) are a Finno-Ugric-speaking people inhabiting the region of Sápmi (formerly known as Lapland), which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Murmansk Oblast, Ru ...

on account of their language and traditions, and are traditionally Orthodox rather than Lutheran Christians like most Sami and Finns.

History

As a result of the Treaty of Tartu (1920), the Skolt homeland was split in two: the western part,

Petsamo Petsamo may refer to: * Petsamo Province, a province of Finland from 1921 to 1922 * Petsamo, Tampere, a district in Tampere, Finland * Pechengsky District Pechengsky District (russian: Пе́ченгский райо́н; fi, Petsamo; no, Peisen ...

, became part of Finland and the eastern part became part of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. The border became a threat to the identity of the Skolts as it grew difficult for them to live as they traditionally had with reindeer husbandry, hunting and fishing as the source of their livelihood. Many Finnish immigrants moved back to their traditional Skolt homeland. In 1926, one-quarter of Petsamo's population were Skolts, and in 1930 the proportion dropped to one-sixth. After the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

(1939), Finland lost its portion of the Rybachiy Peninsula to the Soviet Union and after the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...

(1941–1944), it lost Petsamo, too. As a result, the Skolts living in Suonikylä and Paatsjoki were evacuated to Finland, with the Suonikylä Skolts settling in

, the Paatsjoki Skolts in Keväjärvi and along the Rautujoki River of

, and the Petsamo Skolts in the villages of Mustola, and Sarmijärvi in

Demographics

Current estimates put the number of ethnic Skolt Sámi at around 1250, of whom approximately 400 can speak

Skolt Sámi Skolt Sámi ( , "the Sámi language", or , "the Eastern Sámi language", if a distinction needs to be made between it and the other Sámi languages) is a Uralic, Sámi language that is spoken by the Skolts, with approximately 300 speakers in ...

. Most of them live in Finland today. In Finland, Russia and Norway they number about 700, 400 and possibly more than 150.

Religion

image:Nellim ortodoksinen kirkko.JPG, 250px, The wooden Skolt Sámi Orthodox Church in

Saint Tryphon of Pechenga converted the Skolts to Christianity in the 16th century and even today, the majority of Skolts are members of the Eastern Orthodox Church. image:Neiden Chapel.jpg, 250px, The Skolt Sámi Orthodox Chapel in Neiden

References

External links

Skolt Sámi on Siida's website

Skolt Sámi Culture Across borders
{{Authority control Skolts, Sámi Sámi in Finland Sámi in Norway Sámi in Russia Indigenous peoples of Europe Indigenous peoples in the Arctic