Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

To: muawiyah
One aspect of Sa'ami life not covered in those pictures was the forced relocation of most of the population to America in the mid 1600s through the early 1700s.

Can you elaborate a bit, this is fascinating? Where did they locate in America? Why would there be pressure brought on them to emigrate?

Great post here.


12 posted on 12/21/2009 10:04:53 AM PST by nathanbedford ("Attack, repeat, attack!" Bull Halsey)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies ]


To: nathanbedford
It's actually very simple. The New Sweden colony was established in territory claimed by UK about 1638. The first ship with colonists was called the Kalmar Nyckel (and there's a lot of history tied up in those two names BTW ~ so no discussion here this time).

There were 5 "official" colonial military crew members ~ all Swedes. All spoke Swedish. The rest of the passengers consisted mostly of "family groups" and we know the names of most the heads of household ~ and, best of all we know they were identified as speaking FINN, and not Swedish.

For most modern purposes FINN means "Finnish" but at that time it did not. That word denotes an individual from the Finnmark ~ that is, a Sa'ami.

As you know reindeer easily range 3000 miles. The Sa'ami followed reindeer wherever they went ~ full domestication came later, but it was common for the reindeer to range much further South in winter.

The Swedes regularly rounded up Sa'ami (and even Swedes without papers) who got too close to Stockholm. In this case they took their Sa'ami winter-time prisoners and shipped them to America ~ to what is now Delaware.

Within a few years of starting the colony there were thousands more Sa'ami present, the officers engaged the Dutch in a little war, the Dutch won, the colony then moved across the isthmus to Elkton Maryland, the officers were hired by the Dutch to run Nieuwe Amsterdam, and the Sa'ami were left on their own.

The Swedes continued to dispatch Sa'ami they caught too close to civilized spots to America, to the same place. The last shipments appear to have happened in the mid 1700s.

The Sa'ami settlements expanded. By 1700 the settlements to the North in Lancaster PA relocated to York (yoik?) PA to get away from Quaker harrassment. (All these people were nominally Lutheran ~ and in reality many still maintained older religious beliefs ~ SEE: Santa Claus, Reindeer, Dwarves, Chimneys, etc. ~ I know you know this stuff.)

By the early 1700s there were 5 Sa'ami colonies in Pennsylvania ~ and 2 Sa'ami colonies in Maryland. Best I can determine these colonies were identified with a "deer" or "elk" in their names, or in later colonies with the word "union" (for Kalmar Union).

Remember George Washington in the boat crossing the Delaware? See those guys doing the rowing? Remember the Maryland 400?

There are numerous family genealogies on the net that detail in some manner the Sa'ami experience in America.

The fellows walking barefoot at Valley Forge might well have been quite comfortable in fact.

Today there are millions of Americans of Sa'ami origin ~ some with a lot, some with not so much. I've been fairly successful in finding a remnant. Maybe we will be able to get together on a compendium of documentation someday. Maybe you'd like to help. To get started read what there is on the internet.

One more thing. Science has determined that the division between the Sa'ami and other white folk took place right at the end of the Ice Age 15,000 years ago. There've been some additions since that time ~ a handful of Yakuts with tame reindeer, some Eastern Slavs 7,000 years ago, and maybe even some folks from America back before the end of the Ice Age.

Having Sa'ami ancestors makes you almost a race apart ~ where the differences between the vast majority and your group are mediated by genes, and not just culture and language.

14 posted on 12/21/2009 12:45:45 PM PST by muawiyah
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson