Sámi Culture in Tromsø: Where You Actually Meet It

The Sámi are the Indigenous people of Sápmi, a region that spans northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola peninsula in Russia. Tromsø lies about 350 km north of the Arctic Circle, well inside that land. Reindeer herding is not a reenactment here, it is a living trade governed by Norway's Reindeer Husbandry Act of 2007.

The herding area covers about 40% of Norway, and herding within it is reserved for people with a reindeer earmark, which in practice means Sámi families with herding in the family (source).

When you book a camp visit near Tromsø you are usually visiting a working herding family's animals, though some camps are larger and more commercial than others. Knowing that difference is the first step to choosing well.

The listings for Tromsø camp visits repeat a small set of words, and each one is a real part of Sámi life rather than a show piece.

Lavvu and gamme

A lavvu is the Sámi tent with a fire in the middle, where groups gather for meals and storytelling. A gamme is a turf or wooden hut. Several tours serve food in one, including the candlelit gamme on the Night Reindeer Sledding with a 3-Course Sami Dinner and a Chance of Northern Lights tour.

Bidos

Bidos is the traditional Sámi reindeer stew, cooked over the fire and often served at weddings and special occasions according to one listing. It appears on most camp menus, with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free versions widely offered.

Joik

A joik, also spelled yoik, is the traditional Sámi song. Guides sing one on several tours. A joik is often described as evoking a person, an animal or a place rather than describing it.

Lasso and artefacts

Lasso throwing is how herders catch reindeer, and you can try it at the small-group family visit. Guides also show Sámi artefacts and talk about Arctic survival, on the turf hut lunch visit and others.

Nine reindeer camp visits from Tromsø sit in our catalog, and the middle of the range is where the culture content is strongest. All nine start from central Tromsø, at one of four meeting points a few minutes apart on foot: the bus terminal at Prostneset (Samuel Arnesens gate 5), the Radisson Blu Hotel (Sjøgata 7), Skansegata 9, or the Magic Ice Bar (Kaigata 4). For the full lineup and current rankings, see our current Tromso reindeer sledding page.

The table below compares the camp visits most focused on Sámi culture, using the figures in their listings.

Prices in the table come from the listings as published in dollars. The cheapest camp entry is $133 for Reindeer Sledding or Feeding at a Sami Camp with Camp Photos, which sells one activity, sledding or feeding, not both. Family sized and small-group options sit in the middle, and the wilderness day at Camp Tamok in the Tamok valley tops the range at $339 for seven hours, three of them on the bus.

Every listing in the catalog offers free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start. For context on a different kind of animal-powered day, husky listings in Tromsø start around $233 for a self-drive ride.

If you are weighing the two animals against each other, our husky vs reindeer sledding in Tromso guide breaks down the difference. Reindeer walk calmly in a caravan led by a herder, so guests never steer, and the ride is quiet and slow.

Tromsø Museum, formally the Arctic University Museum of Norway, holds two permanent Sámi exhibitions. The first covers Sámi cultural traditions. The second, Sápmi - becoming a nation, traces the Sámi political and cultural awakening after 1945.

Guided tours of the Sámi exhibitions are offered (source).

A museum visit is an easy way to add depth to a camp visit. The exhibitions give you the history the camp guides tell in person, and the camp gives you the food, the fire and the people. Doing one of each is the strongest one-two for a short stay.

Sámi National Day is 6 February. It marks the first Sámi assembly, held in Trondheim from 6 to 9 February 1917, the first time Norwegian and Swedish Sámi met across borders. The date was chosen at the Sámi Conference in Helsinki in 1992 (source).

In early February, Tromsø hosts Sámi Week. The headline event is the Norwegian Reindeer Racing Championships on Storgata, the main street, where reindeer pull racers on skis over a 201 m sprint. Racing has been part of Sámi Week since 2004, and the Norwegian Lasso Throwing Championships run alongside it.

Watching from the street is free (source).

Planning around the week

Early February is cold, with an average high of -1.2°C (30°F) and an average low of -5.6°C (22°F), so dress for standing still on an icy street. If you want a camp visit the same trip, Reindeer Sledding or Feeding at a Sami Camp with Camp Photos runs in all that season offers and lends warm clothes. For timing the whole trip, see our best time for reindeer sledding in Tromso guide.

The Sámi Parliament of Norway, Sámediggi, first met on 9 October 1989. Its seat is in Karasjok, in a building opened in 2000, a long way inland from Tromsø (source). You are unlikely to visit it on a Tromsø trip, but it matters as context: it is the elected body of the Sámi in Norway, and the reindeer camps you visit operate inside the legal framework it works within.

That framework is the Reindeer Husbandry Act of 2007. It reserves herding inside the Sámi reindeer-herding area for people with a reindeer earmark, and in practice those are Sámi families with herding in the family. When a guide at a camp says the reindeer belong to the family, that is the law and the tradition speaking together.

The table gathers the places and experiences in this guide, what each costs and when it happens.

One note on seasons. Polar night runs from about 26 November to 15 January, when the sun stays below the horizon but a few hours of blue twilight still light the midday. Camps outside the city feel colder than town, and January highs average -1°C (30°F).

The camp visits are hosted by Sámi families and herders, not performers, and the difference shows in how you behave.

• Do not treat Sámi life as a show. Ask questions, listen to the answers, and accept that some things are family business, not content.
• Ask before photographing people, the way you would in anyone's home. Photographing reindeer is easier and usually welcomed.
• No strong fragrances near the herd. Two listings ban perfume and scented products outright.
• Follow the herder's instructions around the animals. The sled reindeer are trained, but animal behaviour can be unpredictable, and guests never steer.
• If you have concerns about the animals, ask the operator who owns and herds the reindeer, how long each sled ride is and what happens to the herd in summer. Our is reindeer sledding ethical guide lists the questions in full.
• Skip the words exotic and tribe entirely. The Sámi are the Indigenous people of this region, and they are your hosts.

Most camp visits take all ages. The small-group family visit recommends children from 6, the Camp Tamok day takes ages 4 and over, and the snowshoe tour starts at 8. The two turf hut and lavvu lunch visits take all ages.

Bring your own baby seat where the listing says seats are not provided, and note that the aurora night has no toilets in the remote spots, which matters with young kids. More detail is in our reindeer sledding in Tromso with kids guide.

For what to put everyone in, two warm layers, a hat, scarf, mittens and insulated boots are the listing minimum, and our what to wear in Tromso winter guide has the full layering logic.