Categories and boundaries in Sámi exhibitions

Abstract

This article examines the construction of ethnicity in the permanent exhibitions of two Sami museums: Siida, the National Museum of the Finnish Sami and a Nature Centre of Metsahallitus, and ajtte, the Swedish Mountain and Sami Museum. The aim of the article is to find out how ethnic categories and boundaries are created by the exhibitions, and how the museum presentations relate to contemporary public discussions about Sami ethnicity. The presentations are analysed within the framework of discourse analysis. The findings suggest that the two museums, with a few possible exceptions, tend to produce a clear and stable ethnic boundary between the Sami and other ethnicities. Like the Sami ethno-political movement, the exhibitions emphasize the unity and togetherness of the Sami people rather than cultural or social heterogeneity within Sami societies.