Reindeer from Idre Sami village at Mount Städjan. Photo: Benny Jonsson.

Sami villages and reindeer grazing

districts

A Sami village (sameby in Swedish) is not a village in the sense of a group of houses. It’s an economic entity consisting of reindeer herding Sami using the same grazing grounds. Each Sami village has a grazing area. The purpose of the Sami village is to safeguard reindeer keeping within their grazing ground, to the best advantage of its members.

In Sami the village is called sijte. In Norway reindeer herding is divided into reindeer grazing districts (reinbeitedistrikt in Norwegian).

Sami villages and reindeer grazing districts in Gränslandet

Gränslandet within Sør-Trondelag County is part of the Femund reindeer grazing district (Femund reinbeitedistrikt). It provides winter pasture for reindeer belonging to the Sami in the Saanti Sijte and Gåebrien Sijte Sami villages.

Gränslandet within Hedmark County is part of the Elgå reindeer grazing district (Elgå reinbeitedistrikt). This provides all year round pasture for reindeer belonging to Svahken Sijte Sami village.

The north-eastern part of Gränslandet provides important summer pasture for reindeer belonging to Ruvhten Sijte Sami village.

Large areas of Gränslandet, from Rogen to Städjan provide summer pasture for reindeer belonging to Idre Sami Village (Idre sameby), which also has winter grazing grounds around Städjan and Fjätervålen.