The process of recording the Sámi place names at Stuorgieddi in the region of southern Troms, Northern Norway

Abstract

Studies from a Sámi settlement on the island of Iinnasuolu in the region of Southern Troms, Northern Norway, where a large number of traces in the outlying fields from earlier settlements are localised, were the point of departure for several studies on the past and present of the composite history of this settlement. A study of how the local Sámi place names were established locally, and on the maps will exemplify one part of these studies. The study of the recreation or reproduction of place names shows the process that extended from daily use of the Sámi place names, through the period of Norwegianization (a period lasting from the last part of the 19th century until the last part of the 20th century) and translation into Norwegian place names, until the confirmation of the Sámi place names according to the Place Names Act of 1990 and the use of them by the Norwegian Mapping Authority. Based on a discussion of the written and oral sources and looking at the settlement of Stuorgieddi, this article will exemplify the Sámi society, their economy and use of the landscape in this process in conjunction with the place names.