For centuries, Sámi reindeer herders have used a unique parenting philosophy to prepare their children for survival in the Arctic. Here's what we can learn from them.
Every year in June or July, under the Arctic midnight sun, Sámi reindeer-herding families in northern Finland, Norway and Sweden come together for one of the biggest social events of the year: "earmarking", which involves marking the new reindeer calves to identify them.
On foot, in all-terrain vehicles and even helicopters, they gather the semi-wild reindeer from vast areas stretching out dozens of square kilometres. Even young children are expected to join in. The youngest boys and girls help catch the calves. From the age of about 10, they take their own earmarking knives, grab a calf, and mark both ears with a unique pattern of notches. Children receive their own personal earmark pattern at birth, and use it to mark their herds for the rest of their lives.
Among the Sámi, an indigenous people spread across the northernmost regions of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia's Kola Peninsula, children not only participate in herding work, but are also encouraged to act independently in most other areas of life. They have a say in deciding when to eat, when to sleep, and what to wear, even at temperatures of -30C (-22F). To outsiders, that independence can be surprising. Missionaries who visited the Arctic in the 18th Century and later, wrote in their diaries that it seemed like Sámi children could do whatever they liked, and that they lacked discipline altogether.
However, as research increasingly reveals, the seemingly rule-free Sámi way of child-rearing has its own intricate structure and philosophy. Over time, this unique parenting style has evolved to prepare children to cope with the extreme challenges of life in the Arctic – and foster a particular kind of resilience.
One of its guiding principles is that rather than following a fixed schedule, the whole family adapts to whatever tasks need to be carried out, be that earmarking, travelling or other joint activities. Within that framework, children make their own choices.
"They eat when they are hungry and go to bed whenever they are tired," says Tytti Valkeapää, a mother of six children, ranging in age from 8 to 18, who lives in the northern Finnish village of Kuttanen, by the border with Sweden.
While Valkeapää is not Sámi herself, she adapted to the local way of life after marrying into a Sámi reindeer-herding family. Like the vast majority of Sámi, her family is no longer fully nomadic, instead travelling widely by snow-mobile, which has transformed the lives of reindeer herders and allowed them to become more settled. But although they mainly live in a house, traditional activities such as the earmarking ritual still shape the family's rhythm.
We have been lucky enough to live on our children's terms – Tytti Valkeapää
The earmarking process takes several weeks and is only carried out at night, when it is still bright but cooler than during the day. This makes it less stressful for the reindeer and their calves. To be able to carry out the work together, the entire family switches sleep cycles, reversing night and day. Children are up and awake working and playing all night, for weeks at a time, together with their extended families and fellow herders. They nap during the day, curling up and dozing off whenever they feel like it.
"Me and the children can nap on an all-terrain vehicle, snow mobile, under a rain cover in a trailer or our van," Valkeapää says. "You just need to be able to rest and eat whenever you can. During the earmarking, children used to like to sleep in a lávvu (tent) although nowadays we have a little hut there."
For Valkeapää, cultivating flexible sleep habits from the start is the best way to help children cope with the extreme Arctic seasons. In fact, residents of the Arctic generally sleep less during the summer and longer in the dark, long winter, when levels of melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone, rise.
"Changing their sleep rhythm comes naturally for children with seasonal changes. I never had to try and force it, because we have been lucky enough to live on our children's terms," she says. "During the earmarking, children take part in the work and when they don’t, they play outside by the corral. I guess they don’t get sleepy when there is so much to do, and they want to be involved."
However, the busy summer nights sometimes make her yearn for the dark autumn evenings: "It is easier now that they have grown up a bit but still there has never been a situation where all the children would go to bed at the same time."
In the summer, during the bright Arctic nights, it is also normal for older children of 12 or so to go fishing with their friends at night, and only come home in the early morning hours.
This autonomy contrasts with the kind of time-intensive, intensely child-centered parenting style that has been on the rise in many societies around the world. But even when compared with nearby communities, such as non-Sámi Norwegians, Sámi families are distinct.
One comparative study in Norway found that Sámi children were "more socially independent than their Norwegian peers", and that "self-regulation of food and sleep were commonly practiced in the Sámi, but not in the Norwegian families". Sámi children were also expected to regulate and control their own emotions, a pattern that is common in circumpolar communities, according to the study. Another study identified independence and hardiness as core values of Sámi parents, among others.
"In Sámi pedagogics, it is a central thought that adults don’t do everything ready for children," says Rauni Äärelä-Vihriälä, an associate professor of Sámi pedagogics Sámi University of Applied Sciences in Norway, Guovdageaidnu, and Sámi mother of two. "In Western thinking it is often expected that adults give the tasks and assignments, whereas for us, the action is based on freedom, whether the question is about changing sleeping cycles, choosing hobbies or something else. The adults can’t just tell [the children what to do] and set the boundaries. Also, we don’t plan things that much. Things happen when they happen [in nature]."
A common saying among Sámi parents is "you know it yourself", meaning, the child will discover if their decision is right
Time is an important part of this philosophy: "We believe that children must be given time to think and express their opinions, and they also need to fail to learn." She quotes a Northern Sámi expression: "Gal dat oahppá go stuorrola", meaning "He/she will learn when he/she grows up."
Another common saying among Sámi parents, "ieš dieđát", meaning, "you know it yourself", also encapsulates that mindset. Sámi parents may for example say this when a child insists on going out into the cold in light clothing, as the child will discover for themselves whether they should put on more layers.
Asta Mitkija Balto, a professor emerita of pedagogy at the Sámi University College in Norway, argues in a research paper that the main goal of Sámi child-rearing is to "prepare children for life and develop independent individuals who can survive in a given environment, and to give the children self-esteem and zest for life and joy."
Part of this is a Sámi concept called "birget", meaning to cope or to manage both independently, and with others. The strategies used are often indirect, avoiding confrontation, argues Balto, who is Sámi. Sámi parents, and especially fathers, may for example wait for a moment when the joint focus is on something else, such as gazing into a fire, in order to discuss a difficult subject without creating a sense of confrontation.
One needs that kind of survival attitude. That sort of, 'don’t mess with me' attitude – Tytti Valkeapää
Even for those who still make a living from reindeer herding, life is changing. Climate change is making snow and ice conditions less predictable, and making it harder for the reindeer to find food. Logging is destroying old forests where reindeer find moss to eat. Many reindeer-herding cooperatives no longer gather free-roaming reindeer from afar for the earmarking tradition, but instead keep the calves close to home.
For Valkeapää, the mother of six who married into a reindeer-herding family, the fact that the earmarking ritual takes place during the children's school holidays, helps follow the ancient rhythm. "Sometimes I feel like some people might think my children are lazy if they sleep until late afternoon, but is that really a problem? Perhaps it is just our society’s problem."
And while she is proud that her children are already participating in the family's work, ultimately, even the decision of whether to continue the legacy will be left to them.
"Of course, it is a beautiful thought that our children would carry on herding reindeer. But they get to decide by themselves. You also need to want this, and you do need a certain kind of character to be able to do this," Valkeapää says. Asked what kind of character, she replies: "Well, you know, one needs the confidence and that kind of survival attitude. That sort of, 'don’t mess with me' attitude."
Source: BBC News
Author: BBC
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