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To: muawiyah; blam

All of my granparents were from Norway - and we’ve traced it back 500+ years (all Norwegians).

But, my one grandfather had very dark features. Olive/brown skin, brown eyes, brown hair. My dad figured it must have been some genes left over from a Viking raid to the Mediterranian.

Later my dad was on a trip to Norway and finally made it way up north and visited the Saami and figured it out! One of the relatives lives in a nice house near the coast, but took him to visit where his herd was. Living out of tents, etc.

My dad asked him how many reindeer he had. The relative replied “only if you tell me how much money you have in the bank” :)


20 posted on 12/01/2009 6:00:54 PM PST by 21twelve (Drive Reality out with a pitchfork if you want , it always comes back.)
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To: 21twelve; blam
Depends on the tribe and family. The 11 current Sa'ami tribes reflect something more than language ~ there's a lot of history there keeping those groups in existence.

I've seen pictures of Sa'ami people so light they could be albinos, and yet others were at least as dark as Germans or Italians.

Plus, ever since that region was "opened up" a thousand years ago there have been immigrants of different kinds, so it's not a "pure" population.

I've recently found a fellow from Eritrea who has a sister with Celiac disease. The genes for that trace back to Sa'ami ancestry.

The Sa'ami were rather numerous among the seamen involved in whale hunting since they were built to stand the cold and exposure to Antarctic waters. No doubt they spread their genes wherever they docked.

21 posted on 12/01/2009 6:13:05 PM PST by muawiyah (Git Out The Way)
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