
	Reindeer products Traditionally all parts of a reindeer have been used and that is what we still aim at. A live reindeer is a mode of transportation and transport, an exciting experience to tourists and a wild and impulsive athlete. You can even milk reindeer; the milk has been used for delicious cheese. These days the reindeer mostly graze free and unshepherded during the suckling period, and milking is rare. The meat, blood, organs and even the brain make very healthy food. As thermal insulation reindeer fur is better than that of any other animal or any synthetic material. This is why the soft and light shoes made of a reindeer leg skin are still unrivalled and appreciated utensils. By removing the hair from the skin, beautiful and resistant leather for clothes and accessories can be made. Bone and antler are used for clever everyday objects for work, play and decoration. Meat Reindeer meat is very healthy. It has more vitamins and micronutrients and less fat than pork or beef (see www.finfood.fi). Reindeer meat is also an ethical choice for free grazing and a cleaner environment. The Inari reindeer grow and graze free in the clean nature. The reindeer meat that is sold in shops or restaurants comes from slaughterhouses complying with EU-directives. You can also buy meat straight from an individual reindeer owner, from the round-ups or reindeer farms. All directly merchandised meat is not inspected and stamped but it is of equally high quality. It has been individually produced and the reindeer has been slaughtered outside, on clean snow. About 2 million kilos of reindeer meat are produced in Finland every year. It makes about half a kilo per Finn. We here in Inari don't really eat much other meat, but have you had your annual share? If you cannot find reindeer meat from your local store, ask for it. If you come to Inari, you can contact any reindeer owner. The antlers The antlers of the slaughtered animals and the shed antlers found in the forest are preserved. They are sold to craftspeople who make traditional sheaths for knives, buttons for clothing and other decoration and household items. Many antlers even end up ground as a powder for medicinal purposes to the markets of Far East. The base of the antler is used for kiela, the part of suopunki (the Sámi equivalent to a lasso) through which the loop is running. The straight part of the antler can be made into a beautiful and practical sheath for a knife. The buttons and buckles of a Sámi coat are made of reindeer antler. Hollow drilled antlers make durable casing for small objects such as matches or needles. The most beautiful objects are made by local masters who know more than just the physical qualities of their material. Samekki, Petteri Laiti - www.saariselka.fi/samekki/, www.ulapland.fi/home/sakk/samekki.html Kikka Laakso tmi, Lemmenjoentie 650 a, 99800 Ivalo, puh. 016-673424, kikka.laakso@pp1.inet.fi - Handmade reindeer antler jewellery, also sold in the Inari tourist information and the Sámi museum Siida Hides and skins Most of the reindeer hides get processed. The skins are made into decorative hides and leather, which is often also pigmented. The fashion and shoe designers from Rovaniemi to Florence know the extraordinary value of reindeer skin. In clothes it is light and flexible, in shoes soft but durable. The hides of the reindeer butchered at home are nailed to outer walls to dry and used as warm and soft covering to sit or sleep on. Alternatively it can be processed in a traditional proceeding into sisna, a traditional smooth leather. You can ask reindeer owners for dried skins, the contact details can be found here. Sisna leather and stylish products such as bags, sacs and belts you can find at least at the Sámi Duodji shop (e-mail: sami.duodji@co.inet.fi) in Inari. Culture Reindeer herding is the most important of the traditional Sámi sources of livelihood and thus the reindeer an important object, instrument or inspiration for many forms of cultural expression. The Sámi sing yoiks, tell and write stories about reindeer; reindeer have been portrayed in stone drawings that are 6000 years old. (Photo: Yki Anttila) The common journey of reindeer and man is illustrated in the Sámi-museum Siida (www.samimuseum.fi) in its permanent and changing exhibitions. It also houses a museum shop with a wide selection of books, original graphics, handicrafts and jewellery. Sámi Duodji in Inari also houses a wide selection of handicrafts, literature and music by and about the Sámi. You can hear yoik, the traditional Sámi technique of singing, at local events in northern Inari. For example at the Skábmagovat Film Festival or at the Reindeer Kingship Races. or at the Reindeer Kingship Races. You might also find yoik at the round-ups or a local bar, but in Lapland, the easiest way is to open the radio on the frequency 101,9 (FM), which airs the Sámi Radio broadcast on working days from 7:15-10am and 2-6pm with a lot of traditional and modern yoik. For news and current affairs in the Sámi language, there is also a local television broadcast in the area north of Rovaniemi at 6pm on working days and on the Internet at www.yle.fi. The international Skábmagovat Film Festival is a fine happening well worth the trip in the end of January when the sun has not yet come up. There is a different theme every year and one of the world's indigenous peoples is introduced every year in addition to productions by and about the Sámi. At the end of March, there is the final of the reindeer cup races of the whole winter, the Reindeer Kingship Race. In addition to reindeer racing, the reindeer owners compete in throwing suopunki (the Sámi method of catching a reindeer). There are always a lot of international spectators and also for the nightlife, it is the high point of the year. Accommodation should be reserved months in advance. In the old days the round-ups were a long happening of hard work and market flare. You can still sense its spirit at the restored Sallivaara corral in the Lemmenjoki national park. There is also a shelter hut for staying overnight. It can be reached 6km by foot on a marked trail off the Inari-Kittilä main road. Other places to get acquainted with the reindeer culture include the Koltta Sámi museum in Sevettijärvi (which also sells and exhibits handicrafts) and Inarin Hopea, which manufactures traditional and tradition-based modern silver jewellery in Inari. Back to index

Reindeer products

Traditionally all parts of a reindeer have been used and that is what we still aim at.

A live reindeer is a mode of transportation and transport, an exciting experience to tourists and a wild and impulsive athlete. You can even milk reindeer; the milk has been used for delicious cheese. These days the reindeer mostly graze free and unshepherded during the suckling period, and milking is rare.

The meat, blood, organs and even the brain make very healthy food. As thermal insulation reindeer fur is better than that of any other animal or any synthetic material. This is why the soft and light shoes made of a reindeer leg skin are still unrivalled and appreciated utensils.

By removing the hair from the skin, beautiful and resistant leather for clothes and accessories can be made. Bone and antler are used for clever everyday objects for work, play and decoration.

Meat

Reindeer meat is very healthy. It has more vitamins and micronutrients and less fat than pork or beef (see www.finfood.fi). Reindeer meat is also an ethical choice for free grazing and a cleaner environment. The Inari reindeer grow and graze free in the clean nature.

The reindeer meat that is sold in shops or restaurants comes from slaughterhouses complying with EU-directives. You can also buy meat straight from an individual reindeer owner, from the round-ups or reindeer farms. All directly merchandised meat is not inspected and stamped but it is of equally high quality. It has been individually produced and the reindeer has been slaughtered outside, on clean snow.

About 2 million kilos of reindeer meat are produced in Finland every year. It makes about half a kilo per Finn. We here in Inari don't really eat much other meat, but have you had your annual share? If you cannot find reindeer meat from your local store, ask for it. If you come to Inari, you can contact any reindeer owner.

The antlers

The antlers of the slaughtered animals and the shed antlers found in the forest are preserved. They are sold to craftspeople who make traditional sheaths for knives, buttons for clothing and other decoration and household items. Many antlers even end up ground as a powder for medicinal purposes to the markets of Far East.

The base of the antler is used for kiela, the part of suopunki (the Sámi equivalent to a lasso) through which the loop is running. The straight part of the antler can be made into a beautiful and practical sheath for a knife. The buttons and buckles of a Sámi coat are made of reindeer antler. Hollow drilled antlers make durable casing for small objects such as matches or needles.

The most beautiful objects are made by local masters who know more than just the physical qualities of their material.

Samekki, Petteri Laiti - www.saariselka.fi/samekki/, www.ulapland.fi/home/sakk/samekki.html

Kikka Laakso tmi, Lemmenjoentie 650 a, 99800 Ivalo, puh. 016-673424, kikka.laakso@pp1.inet.fi
- Handmade reindeer antler jewellery, also sold in the Inari tourist information and the Sámi museum Siida

Hides and skins

Most of the reindeer hides get processed. The skins are made into decorative hides and leather, which is often also pigmented. The fashion and shoe designers from Rovaniemi to Florence know the extraordinary value of reindeer skin. In clothes it is light and flexible, in shoes soft but durable.

The hides of the reindeer butchered at home are nailed to outer walls to dry and used as warm and soft covering to sit or sleep on. Alternatively it can be processed in a traditional proceeding into sisna, a traditional smooth leather. You can ask reindeer owners for dried skins, the contact details can be found here. Sisna leather and stylish products such as bags, sacs and belts you can find at least at the Sámi Duodji shop (e-mail: sami.duodji@co.inet.fi) in Inari.

Culture

Reindeer herding is the most important of the traditional Sámi sources Stone drawings of a round-up fence in Alta, Norway. of livelihood and thus the reindeer an important object, instrument or inspiration for many forms of cultural expression. The Sámi sing yoiks, tell and write stories about reindeer; reindeer have been portrayed in stone drawings that are 6000 years old. (Photo: Yki Anttila)

The common journey of reindeer and man is illustrated in the Sámi-museum Siida (www.samimuseum.fi) in its permanent and changing exhibitions. It also houses a museum shop with a wide selection of books, original graphics, handicrafts and jewellery. Sámi Duodji in Inari also houses a wide selection of handicrafts, literature and music by and about the Sámi.

You can hear yoik, the traditional Sámi technique of singing, at local events in northern Inari. For example at the Skábmagovat Film Festival or at the Reindeer Kingship Races. or at the Reindeer Kingship Races. You might also find yoik at the round-ups or a local bar, but in Lapland, the easiest way is to open the radio on the frequency 101,9 (FM), which airs the Sámi Radio broadcast on working days from 7:15-10am and 2-6pm with a lot of traditional and modern yoik.

For news and current affairs in the Sámi language, there is also a local television broadcast in the area north of Rovaniemi at 6pm on working days and on the Internet at www.yle.fi.

The international Skábmagovat Film Festival is a fine happening well worth the trip in the end of January when the sun has not yet come up. There is a different theme every year and one of the world's indigenous peoples is introduced every year in addition to productions by and about the Sámi.

At the end of March, there is the final of the reindeer cup races of the whole winter, the Reindeer Kingship Race. In addition to reindeer racing, the reindeer owners compete in throwing suopunki (the Sámi method of catching a reindeer). There are always a lot of international spectators and also for the nightlife, it is the high point of the year. Accommodation should be reserved months in advance.

In the old days the round-ups were a long happening of hard work and market flare. You can still sense its spirit at the restored Sallivaara corral in the Lemmenjoki national park. There is also a shelter hut for staying overnight. It can be reached 6km by foot on a marked trail off the Inari-Kittilä main road.

Other places to get acquainted with the reindeer culture include the Koltta Sámi museum in Sevettijärvi (which also sells and exhibits handicrafts) and Inarin Hopea, which manufactures traditional and tradition-based modern silver jewellery in Inari.

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