Lucie Kant and south-sami cultural heritage

Lucie Kant was a South Sami woman, born in 1857 in Rørosfjella, where conditions for Sami reindeer herders were difficult. The Sami reindeer herders lost their land to farmers, and many Sami were sentenced to pay heavy fines for using what traditionally had been their grazing land. Many of them therefore had to seek new livelihoods elsewhere.

In 1891, Lucie and her husband Lars Jonasson Myrås moved to Smådalen in Vang, where Lars worked as a reindeer herder for the Norwegian domesticated reindeer herding district in Vang, which needed expertise in reindeer husbandry. Lucie and Lars had eight children, but none of them reached adulthood. Three of them were buried in the village. Sometime between 1901 and 1904, Lars disappeared, and no one knows what happened to him. Lucie lived on different farms in Vang for the last thirty years of her life.

The first humans to arrive in Valdres were likely reindeer hunters. The reindeer followed the receding ice, and the hunters followed the reindeer herds. Traces of wild reindeer hunting and trapping activity can still be found high in the mountains. The ruins of two turf huts from a thousand-year-old Sami settlement can be found in Rennsenn in Vestre Slidre. Wild reindeer are no longer found in Valdres, but – with help from Sami reindeer herders – domestic reindeer husbandry has been an important industry for more than 150 years.

Snïjpe-tjohpe. Torger Robøle Hegge bought and wore this South Sami hat on a journey from Nordland to Valdres, where they herded their own reindeer herd around 1910.

Boengeskuvmie. South Sami breast panel from Berge farm in Vang. Several of the Sami reindeer herders were in close contact with the people on the farm.

Voessetje / bongke. Small bag/pouch, sewn by Lucie Kant. In private ownership.

Boengeskuvmie. South Sami breast panel from Steile farm in Vang. A photo exists showing Lucie Kant on the summer mountain farm that belonged to Steile farm. Valdres Folk Museum.

Voedth. Long wide strips of cloth (puttisar) that were wound around the leg to serve as gaiters. Torger Robøle Hegge bought and wore these on a journey from Nordland to Valdres, where they herded their own reindeer herd around 1910. Valdres Folk Museum.

Goelkegaamege. Child's shoe made from reindeer hide.

Gïeres-soehpenje. A lasso with a ring made from bone, crafted by Gunnar Storeli (born in 1944), a reindeer herder, in Øystre Slidre. Gunnar worked for the domesticated reindeer herding district in Valdres and Jotunheimen for his entire working life.

International Exposition in Paris. Lucie Mortensdatter Kant, Lars Jonasson Myrås and their son Jonas, visiting the International Exposition in Paris in 1889. They are all wearing South Sami clothes from the Røros district. Photo: Roland Bonaparte, coloured by Per Ivar Somby/copyright Sami Parliament.

On the summer mountain farm that belonged to Steile farm, Skakadalen in Vang. Lucie is wearing dark clothing, ca. 1920. Photographer: Jonatan Aars.

Along the country road. Lucie in her old age, when she lived on different farms in Vang. She wore South Sami clothes her whole life.