Introduction: Currents of Saami pasts

Abstract

A scientific field is a constant process, and, as all processes, it is defined by dialectics, since standpoints are only defined in opposition to something else. Saami archaeology is no exception, and this field emerged precisely because of oppositions, when political conflicts enforced the realization of a lack of consideration of the Saami presence in the prevailing understanding of the past in northern Fennoscandia. Furthermore, the opposition to Saami archaeology and the identification of cultural heritage as specifically Saami has no doubt continued to shape the research within this field. Yet the field is neither ultimately defined by this genesis nor maintained without constant discussion and internal and external repositioning.