Just about an hour's drive from Boden, you can pay a memorable visit to the forest Sami Lars in Gorgiim, Råne Älvdal. Meet the reindeer, listen to Lars Eriksson's life wisdom and Sami stories at the campfire, and above all, feel the peace.
Along the road to Årstidsfolket in Gorgiim, Flakaberg, you cross the border between past and present. Old-growth forests meet newly cleared clearings and the old forest Sami myths and traditions meet Swedish society.
With his white beard, twinkling eyes and warm smile, Lars Eriksson gives a first impression of a good-natured Santa Claus, dressed in a Sami cowl with Rudolph and the other reindeer around him. This year's reindeer calves look curiously behind him. Around the farm, clanging bells indicate that the reindeer are moving around in their own home right next door. One peeks out of the woodshed. Another curiously greets the visitors.
For him, the choice to continue reindeer husbandry was obvious, as it was for his brothers.
There is a welcoming smoke from the log fireplace and the coffee pot is immediately turned on. And then Lars Eriksson starts talking. Your pulse slows down as the fire flames and crackles and you sip your coffee, which rarely tastes as good as when cooked over an open fire.
Lars Eriksson was born and raised in a forest Sami family that has practiced reindeer husbandry in the same place for generations. For him, the choice to continue reindeer husbandry was obvious, as it was for his brothers.
- When I was 13, I left school and told the teacher, who was trying to persuade me to continue, to come and get me, but I will go home! Then I spent that whole summer in calf marking, and since then I have lived and traveled in the forest and countryside.
The story of Lars' life slowly weaves a picture of the development of Sami culture and its encounter with the demands of Swedish society.
Like many other Sami children, Lars was placed in a Swedish school and forbidden to speak his mother tongue. The Sami sacred sacrificial site not far from where we are, so well chosen that no one would stumble upon it unless you knew it was there and deliberately sought it out for comfort and strength, was banned. Like the joik, the expressive song of the Sami, belief in the Sami gods was to be killed. Natural medicines and the knowledge of nature's healing power were punished and Sami convicts struggled to transport the ore along the ore trail, which also passes through the area we are in.
But Lars also describes the joy of life and love of nature and reindeer that is so central to Sami culture. It is a force that has ensured that the Sami culture continues to live and develop and that the language remains. Over the years, professors and linguists have come to Lars' parental home to study and document what he calls 'Ur-Sami' for posterity. The Sami language has words for details that have no Swedish equivalent. Different types of snow could be vital to quickly explain in a single word. Likewise the different forms of fire.
In the spring, reindeer migrate to highland areas and during calving, extra vigilance against predators is required.
When Lars describes how he has lived in harmony with reindeer and nature throughout his life, his brown eyes sparkle. His stories and experiences are genuine, from the heart.
- The people who have lived by and with the forces of nature have lived a good life," he says.
He could travel alone with the reindeer for weeks. While his wife, who has a strong position in Sami culture, had the main responsibility for everything at home, he was out alone, with his skis and dog as his only tools.
- A good reindeer dog meant everything, it could be like five men in the forest.
He lived close to his herd in snow and rain, mosquitoes and the midnight sun, sleeping in the open air or in huts along the way, stopping and making fires when the reindeer stopped, reading the animals if they were tired, thirsty, wary or eager, and following them through the year and its migrations, which are still deeply rooted in the reindeer.
In spring, the reindeer migrate to highland areas and during calving, extra vigilance against predators is required. In summer, calf tagging is held, which is a phenomenon in itself for the uninitiated. Each calf follows its mother, the vajan, faithfully. All reindeer herders have their own reindeer tag which is marked in the ears of the adult reindeer. To outsiders, it may seem impossible to distinguish the differences in a calf tag where lots of animals with different owners move together. But the reindeer herder's experienced eye is razor sharp. He skillfully snares the calves and marks them with the same brand as the mother. Just as quickly and magically, the calf and vajan find each other in the myriad of animals moving around the pasture in the cool summer night, all heading in the same direction, with their characteristic calls.
In the fall comes the slaughter, where everything is used from the reindeer. The tendons become tough and durable thread, the horns become handicraft materials and so on.
- I used to find the pelt, the skin at the bottom of the reindeer's leg, and barter with an old lady who was good at making real pelt shoes. They were both warm and soft and could last for several years," says Lars.
During pre-winter and winter, Lars again followed his reindeer down to the winter grazing land closer to the coast. In harsh winters when the white moss was difficult for the reindeer to access, the hanging lichen of the trees in the woodland could be his salvation. Lars describes how the land still exists today, but that skis have been replaced by snowmobiles, the demands on technology have increased, hanging lichen and white moss have disappeared in many places, and the reindeer's migrations have sometimes had to be replaced by costly truck transportation.
- We lived a whole family on a few hundred reindeer and were completely self-sufficient. That would not work today.
In the fall, the slaughter takes place where everything is taken from the reindeer.
In retirement, Lars has given up traditional reindeer husbandry and keeps his reindeer close to him on the farm all year round, much to the delight of visitors. On Midsummer's Eve, he shows how calf marking is done. The reindeer are then released from the enclosure but often stay around the farm anyway.
At the adjacent lake, they also have three timber cabins for rent for those who want to live in seclusion with nature as their closest neighbor. There is also a forest Sami hut where Lars receives groups and tells his story. And last but not least, a timbered wood-fired sauna where you can melt all the impressions to the soothing sound of the crackling fire, roll in the snow outside in winter and cool off in summer with a dip in the lake just a few steps outside the door. With summer's midnight sun or winter's starry sky, maybe even an aurora borealis overhead from early fall, it's easy to agree with Lars' philosophical words that those who lived close to nature lived a good life. Try it, you too!
Text: Anna Bergström
Photo: Eric Borg
The fishing guides in Boden describe fishing as an adrenaline-filled relaxation and a challenge to lure the fish to bite. Understanding nature, biology and ecology is the basis for being a successful fisherman, although sometimes you can get lucky too. Ethics and morality are also important issues.
- We don't fish pike with barbs, for example, we use catch and release, and it is also important to hold the fish in the right way so that it is not damaged before it is released. I usually say that there should be as little handling of the fish as possible," explains Robert Westin.
With professional fishing guides in your company, you can count on the fishing going right, that you get to fish with good and right gear, and above all, find the top-notch fishing in Norrbotten. What are you waiting for? Come on!
Text: Anna Bergström
Photo: Fredrik Broman, Jacob Nilsson, Robert Westin and Michelle Staaf
