Material Survey — Introduction
The Indigenous Sámi people whose traditional cultural homeland, Sápmi, stretches over four countries (Finland, Sweden, Norway and Russia) have attracted the interest of scientists, researchers and travellers for centuries. Because of historical reasons and events, materials concerning Sámi culture and history can be found in museums, archives and the collections of other memory organisations across Europe. These materials are valuable to the Sámi community itself, as well as for research on Sámi culture and history.
In order to map the current situation of holdings of Sámi-related archives and materials across Europe, the Digital Access to the Sámi Heritage Archives project has sent out surveys to several memory organisations. The infographic below provides the key figures, and a more detailed report can be found in Results of Material Survey.
163
organisations around the Europe were contacted within the mapping process.
59
organisations have replied that they have materials related to Sámi people and culture.
40
organisations across Europe have started digitizing their materials related to Sámi Cultural Heritage.
10
large collections of pictures or other archive material available online.
