Gender Roles
Traditionally, the men in the family were responsible for herding, hunting, making boats sleds and tools. It was the women’s responsibility to cook, make clothing and thread and cure meat. As their society has modernized so has the women’s role. It is believed that this modernization has caused the women’s loss of power in the family. Though they are still important, they are no longer absolutely imperative to the survival of the family. Women are no longer needed to make clothing or prepare reindeer skins, but they are still the primary caretakers and pass on cultural knowledge to their children.
Marriage and Family
In traditional Sami culture, there were certain guide lines men needed to follow if they wished to ask for a women’s hand in marriage. First, He visited her house with someone who could speak in his favor. He then offered to make coffee for her parents, if they accepted it meant they liked him. When the couple was married they were given several reindeer either as a gift or a part of the wife's dowry. Traditionally, families lived in groups called siida. Today, the typical family consists of two parents and one or more children. These families are very close knit with particular attention paid to the children. Each family had its own mark. For herding families, these marks were used to differentiate their reindeer from those belonging to other families.
-Lindsay Cash
References:
Countries and Their Cultures
2013 Saami-Kinship, Marriage and Family. Electronic
document,http://www.everyculture.com/Russia-Eurasia-China/Saami-Kinship-Marriage-and-Family.html
accessed July 12
Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Cultures
2013 [1999] Sami. Electronic document,
http://encyclopedia.com/topic/Sami.aspx Accessed July 12
No comments:
Post a Comment