Those Lapps who live farthest away from the Finns, Russians, and Swedes
still wear the old style of dress. In winter their garments are made of
reindeer hide: the hair, which is left on, is worn next the body. Both
men and women wear big mittens of skin. They have caps on their heads,
and fishermen and herders may be distinguished by the style of these.
Fishermen’s caps are pointed, while those of herders are square. In
going out over the snow in winter, Lapps have long, narrow runners of
wood fastened to their feet, and carry a pole in their hand. These
runners are five feet or more in length, and only a few inches wide, and
on them—aided by their poles—the Lapps glide along finely over the hard
snow.
Some Lapps are constantly wandering. Others settle down in quite
permanent homes. The wanderers build tents similar in shape to those of
our Sioux Indians and of the Finns. A lot of poles are set up in a
circle with their upper ends meeting. This framework is covered with a
cloth or with turfs. The settled Lapps live in houses, the framework of
which consists of posts set upright and poles lashed across. Small
storehouses for food are built near by, and these are set up on four
posts to keep the contents out of reach of dogs and other animals.
When they greet each other, the Lapps rub noses together. This mode of
kissing is found also among other northern peoples, like the Samoyeds in
Asia and the Eskimos in America. Mothers cradle their babies in a sort
of trough hollowed out of a piece of wood. This they carry on their
backs when they journey, and hang on a tree or set into a snowbank when
they work.
Of course every one thinks of reindeer when Laplanders are mentioned.
And it is not strange, because reindeer are useful indeed to these
little people. They furnish three useful things,—milk, meat, and skins.
The reindeer are kept in herds and form almost the only wealth of their
owners. Some herds number perhaps a thousand reindeer. These herds must
be constantly watched. Men, women, and children all help in the work,
and the many dogs kept by the Lapps are chiefly helpful in guarding the
herds. The women do the milking, and each of the reindeer cows is milked
twice a day. They give little milk, hardly more than a cupful at a
milking, but it is rich and thick and can be thinned with a good deal of
water. Some of the milk is drunk fresh, and from the rest the women make
a kind of cheese. When they wish to milk a reindeer, they approach the
animal carefully, throw a lasso over its head and wind this around the
snout so as to hold the animal quiet. The reindeer are also much used to
carry burdens and to drag sledges.
[Illustration: LAPLANDER ON SNOW-RUNNERS (VERNEAU).]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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