Book

Social relations in a nomadic Lappish community

[Norsk Folkmuseum]2 • Published In 1955 • Pages: 178

By: Whitaker, Ian.

Abstract
This is a study of the social structure of a Swedish Saami reindeer nomads' community, Lainiovuoma. Whitaker, a young Scottish ethnologist, collected his data as a reindeer watcher of the period of a year in Lainiovuoma. Whitaker also used literary materials including court accounts, church registers, and the census list. The data are organized in terms of the social relations of the Lainiouvuoma Saami - relationships among themselves, with other communities, and with other 'outsiders' such as the peasants and the Saami administrators - and the contributions these relationships made to the internal integration of the community. He shows that the bilateral desent group can have a clear structure, and the absence of any form of unilineal kinship structure in a social matrix can be maintained by some other force such as the contiguity of economic interest, i.e., the demands of reindeer husbandry in Lainiovuoma.
culture
Saami
HRAF PubDate
1996
Region
Europe
Sub Region
Scandinavia
Document Type
Book
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
Hesung Koh ; 1961
Field Date
1951-1952
Coverage Date
1951-1952
Coverage Place
Lainiovuoma, Sweden
Notes
Ian Whitaker
Includes a summary in Swedish
Includes bibliographical references (p. 150-162) and indexes
LCSH
Sami (European people)