Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 November 1875 — The Lapps. [ARTICLE]

The Lapps.

Of the 160,000 inhabitants of Lapland only about 15,000 or 20,000 are Lapps (in their own language, Sabmt or Sam), who form a subdivision of the Finnic race. They were originally inhabitants of Finland, but were gradually pushed by the Finns farther north and west to their present territory. According as they are fishermen or reindeer herdsmen they are distinguished as 41 Sea Lapps” and 44 Mountain Lapps,” and either occupy settled habitations or lead a nomadic life. They are extremely small in stature, and their hair is black and straight, presenting !i great contrast to the tall and blond Norwegians and Swedes. Their skin is yellow, the forehead broad, the head poised on a short and rounded neck, the nose well formed, the cheek-bones protruding, the chin pointed, the cheeks hollow, and the lips straight and thin. They are agile, but quickly exhausted belabor, rather from bodily weakness than laziness. They dress in furs, with trousers and shoes of reindeer-skin. They protect the head by means of a sort of cowl, but the Russian Lapps generally wear fur caps with ear-covers. The dwellings of the mountain Lapps are small tents, consisting of a skeleton of bent sticks, covered with a coarse cloth. Jn.ihß holfi wllich 86TV68 flB ft flue for the fireplace underneath. The sea Lapps have better habitations, generally consisting of wooden huts, with several apartments. They live exclusively qn animal food; bread, which they obtain of Russian tradesmen, is considered a delicacy. Polygamy, though not prohibited by custom, is very rare on account of the high price which has to be paid for women. The daughter of a rich man costs sometimes as much as 100 reindeer, while a poor girl is seldom sold for less than twenty. The price is considered as a repayment of the expenses incurred in bringing up a daughter, and also as a remuneration to the father for losing her services. The Lapps have been converted to Christianity, and belong to the Lutheran Church in Norway and Sweden, and to the Greek Church in Russia. — Appleton's American L'yclopmdia.