Tales of a Sámi
The Sámi people are known for passing on the knowledge of their history through oral story telling. They would each share their stories and life adventures as they gathered together in their tents or turf huts to share an evening meal.
I have many memories of my father telling me his stories as I was growing up. He was a commercial fisherman on the west coast of Canada. On weekends, I would spend my days in his boathouse, as he repaired his nets. And there was always a story or 2 to listen to as we drank his boiled coffee and enjoyed my mother’s baking. The stories ranged from his early days growing up in Sápmi to his days in the merchant marines, and to his fishing adventures on the west coast.
My father was a great storyteller. He recorded the stories of his life onto cassette tapes and gave them to me a few months before he passed away. He asked me to pass his life stories on so that others would know what life was like in Lapland (Sápmi) where he grew up.
I am now transcribing these tapes and will make them available on my YouTube channel.
Tales of the Sea Sami – YouTube Podcasts
AI technology has now advanced – to make this task possible. I am starting to convert his tape recordings into digital format. I will be posting these onto YouTube as podcasts so these will be available on YouTube and YouTube music. s I listened to my Father’s tales, I thought about what it must have been like for my Sámi grandmother – to spend the winters living in a dark turf hut, often getting snowed in. To use a small seal oil candle, stitching reindeer leather and knitting with her nalbinding needles – to make crafts she could sell in the spring to the ‘wealthy’ Sámi reindeer herders. Life must have been really really hard for them. But from my Dad’s perspective, it was just how it was, and they got on the best that they could – happy when they had caught a grouse, so they would have a bit of food to put into their mouths. Please Subscribe to my YouTube Channel if you would like to follow along with his tales.Tales of a Sea Sami – Podcasts – English Version
Categories: Tales of a Sami
