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During the conservation the sheets were separated. Arja Jokiniemi / The National Archives Service of Finland, 2012.

Archive of the Skolt Sámi village of Suonjel Suenjel

Registration year: 2015
Submission year: 
2014
Collection ID: 
2014-21

The archive of the Skolt Sámi village of Suonjel Suenjel (Sámi: Suõʹnnʼjel; Finnish: Suonikylä) in the Pechenga region forms a unique body of documentation of an indigenous community. Preserved for centuries, the archive consists of documents joined together with glue made from bones, eventually forming a nine metre-long scroll. The scroll was kept inside a casing carved from a tree trunk and stored in a secret location known only to three trusted men, who all came from different families.

The documents are official edicts issued by the Russian Emperor and the Imperial Government (gramota), which confirmed the rights of the Skolt Sámi community to their fishing and reindeer herding territories. The oldest preserved document dates from 1601 and the latest from 1775. The preservation of the documents started as early as the late 16th century but the oldest documents have not survived. The collection shows that the Skolt Sámi, who depended on fishing and reindeer herding for their livelihoods, understood at a very early stage the significance of written documents. These documents were proof of their rights to land and water territories and were therefore of crucial importance to the community.

The Skolt Sámi population was evacuated and the archive moved from Pechenga during the Second World War in 1939. The archive was placed in the National Archives of Finland in Helsinki until it was returned to the Skolt Sámi community in 2012, which donated it to be preserved at the Sámi Archives, a unit established the same year under the National Archive of Finland and operating in Inari at the Sámi region. Skolt Sámi is listed as an endangered language by the UNESCO. The archive forms a crucial part of the community’s identity and it has wider symbolic meaning for other indigenous communities as well.

 

Collection locations

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Conservators Arja Jokiniemi (left) and Minna Mäki cleaned the archive at National Archives of Finland in 2012.Titta Lehtola / The National Archives Service of Finland, 2012.
© Titta Lehtola / The National Archives Service of Finland

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During the conservation the sheets were separated. Arja Jokiniemi / The National Archives Service of Finland, 2012.
© Arja Jokiniemi / The National Archives Service of Finland

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The sheets were attached together again. Arja Jokiniemi / The National Archives Service of Finland, 2012.
© Arja Jokiniemi / The National Archives Service of Finland

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The archive after conservation. Mikko Salminen / The National Archives Service of Finland, 2012.
© Mikko Salminen / The National Archives Service of Finland

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Skolt cottage in Suonikylä in 1942. Source: SA-kuva
© SA-kuva

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Skolt Sámi women with their children in Suonikylä in 1942.
Source: SA-kuva

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Skolt mother with children in Suonikylä in 1932. T. I. Itkonen, Karl Nickul: Suenjel - kuvia kolttalappalaisten maasta, Gummerus Osakeyhtiö, Jyväskylä, 1936, p. 75. Photo: Karl Nickul, 1932.
© Karl Nickul

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The archive was kept scrolled to a wooden casket. Petri Mentu, 2014.
© Petri Mentu

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Archive was formally returned to the Skolt Sámi community during the opening ceremonies of the Sámi Cultural Centre Sajos in April 2012. Heidi Mustajoki / The National Archives Service of Finland, 2012.
© Heidi Mustajoki / The National Archives Service of Finland

Collection details

VIDEOS

Producer: the Sámi Archives / The Sámi Education Institute

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Name and identification details of the items being nominated

Archive of the Skolt Sámi village of Suonjel Suenjel

Description

The archive forms a unique body of documentation of an indigenous community. It is a unique expression of how documented decisions of the government were understood already centuries ago as safeguarding the fundamental rights of the community. The documents are official edicts issued by the Russian Emperor and the Imperial Government (gramota), which confirmed the rights of the Skolt Sámi community to their fishing and reindeer herding territories and the community developed a unique way to preserve these vital records.

Document type: