In Skibotn, Storfjord, was one of the most important markets in Northern Norway, Ivgobađamárkan / Skibotn Market. The market was a natural meeting place for people from inland and coastal areas.
Reindeer herding Sami, traders from the Torne Valley, Norwegian traders and Norwegians, Sami and Kvens from the market's neighbourhood met here. The Skibotn market has roots that probably stretch back to the Middle Ages.
At the old Nálluvuohppi marketplace in Skibotn, you can clearly see goahtesajit / gammetufter in the terrain. A gamme is a building structure consisting of a load-bearing wooden structure that has been covered with twigs and turf. Gammetufts can be seen as hills in the terrain where there would otherwise have been flat ground.
traditions. Photo Torun Olsen
Featherbows
At the shoreline in the Sea Sami village of Birtavarre, located in the centre of Kåfjord, there are fiervábuvrrit / shuttlecock and návsttit / cove built in the 1800s and early 1900s. Fjærabuene is built of untreated alder using the lathing technique and has a turf roof. The huts were used to store fishing equipment and as a starting point for extensive home fishing at all times of the year in the Kåfjord and Lyngenfjord.
Pre-Christian religion
Bierdna / bears had a special place in Sami pre-Christian religion. There are several descriptions of the rituals surrounding the bear hunt, but they all say that after the bear had been eaten, the bear bones were collected and buried. Legends tell of the last pagan, ”Bonki”, who buried bears at Bonkholmen in the Lyngenfjord. At Bonkholmen, there are remains of bear graves dating from 650 to 780 AD.
Sieiddit / offersteiner are often distinctive natural formations. They are found in the landscape adjacent to lakes, islands, headlands and mountains, or near important hunting and fishing areas. These places were regarded as sacred. Stories tell of how people asked for help in their daily lives by worshipping or sacrificing to nature.
Current links
Market history, Nord-Troms museum
Conversation about the Skibotn market, Nord-Troms museum
Here live my people - A picture story from old Lyngen, National Library of Norway
