What are the origins of kuksa?

How did the kuksa originate?

Originally, kuksa were used by the Sami as a personal container. They could be used for drinking, eating, and even for berry picking. This multifunctional cup therefore had to be durable and sturdy to meet all of its owner's needs.

Kuksa are part of Duodji, a Sami craft that focuses on creating functional and useful everyday objects. This includes making cups, knives, or even bags for gathering provisions. These everyday objects are not the same for men and women. The objects for women are made from reindeer skin and wood while those for men are made from reindeer antler and wood.

The Sápmi stretches from northern Sweden to the Kola Peninsula in Russia, passing through northern Norway and Finland. Today, there are about 75,000 Sámi in total across all countries. However, only 9,000 live in Finland; the vast majority live in Norway.

In Finland and according to the Sámi Parliament, the main criterion for belonging to their people is language. Indeed, the law states that a Sámi is someone who, either they themselves or at least one of their ancestors, learned Sámi as a mother tongue.

The history of the Sami

The Sámi are the direct descendants of the people who settled in northern Fennoscandia after the end of the Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago. The Sami were essentially hunters and fishermen. They lived from what nature gave them to exploit in all seasons. Thanks to the hunting of deer and fur-bearing animals, they were able to sell their products to the markets of Central Europe.

It was only at the end of the 19th century that the Sami people took their place in the institutions with the creation of the first Sami newspapers and associations. In 1953, the first Sámi conference put forward the right of the Sámi to exploit natural resources and express themselves in their own language. This right had been taken away from them a few years earlier following the adoption of a policy that favored the interests of the dominant population. At that time, this policy was the linguistic and cultural alienation of the Sámi.

The Sami flag

The Sami flag was designed by the Sami artist Astrid BAhl. It represents:

• The drum of the shaman
• The sun and the moon as told in the poem Paiven parneh which describes the Sami as the daughters and sons of the sun.

The red circle represents the sun while the blue circle represents the moon.

The Sámi Parliament

The primary mission of the Sámi Parliament is to ensure that the autonomy of the Sámi people in matters of culture and language is respected, as guaranteed by the Finnish constitution, together with their status as an indigenous people.

The Sámi Parliament is the highest political organization of the Sámi people. It is responsible for:

• Defending the rights of the Sámi
• Dealing with matters related to language, culture and the general status of the Sámi
• Formulating proposals
• Issuing opinions on matters relating to the Sámi
• Deciding on the distribution of financial resources allocated to the Sámi

The parliament is composed of 21 members elected from the Sámi population every 4 years.

The Sámi language

In Finland, three variants of the Sámi language are spoken:

• Northern Sámi: spoken by more than 2,000 Sámi in Finland and by a total of 20,000 people in Finland, Norway and Sweden
• Inari Sámi: spoken only in Finland
• Skolt Sámi: spoken in Finland and Russia

Sámi has been taught in Finnish schools since 1970. And by the way, it is also possible to pass your baccalaureate in Northern, Inari or Skolt Sámi.

The good thing is that the number of students who speak Sámi is gradually increasing!

→ On the map below you can see the distribution of the 10 Sámi languages in the Sápmi territory.

• South Sámi
• Ume Sámi
• Pite Sámi
• Lule Sámi
• Northern Sámi
• Inari Sámi
• Skolt Sámi
• Akkala Sámi
• Kildin Sámi
• Ter Sámi

In Finland, three variants of the Sámi language are spoken, which means that two people who do not speak the same Sámi may have difficulty understanding each other.

Sami handicraft

Sami handicraft, also called duodji, is the creation of practical objects to help in daily life such as clothing, tools, traps or other hunting implements. These objects are not meant to be beautiful but useful and practical.

The duodji was developed because of the nomadic lifestyle of the Sami people, who had to be economical with natural resources.

The traditional materials used by the Sami are:

• Antlers, bones and animal skins
• Wood
• Tin
• Fabrics

Authentic Sami handicraft is protected by the inter-Nordic Sami handicraft trademark "Sami Duodji".

The traditional Sami costume

The traditional costume called kofte is still a living tradition today. It is a true symbol. It is a very visible symbol that embodies the entire identity of the Sami people.

The decoration and style of the costume indicate the wearer's place of birth. They can also indicate the person's marital status and family.

There are 4 commonly used costume styles, which you can find in the picture below:

• Teno costume
• Inari costume
• Enontekiö costume
• Vuotso costume

Nowadays, wearing the costume is reserved for festive occasions rather than daily use as before.

Sami activities

Traditionally the Sami have activities related to the fauna and flora. They have always opposed the excessive exploitation of natural resources. It is important to know that even if the Sami have evolved in their ways of life, they still have a deep connection to nature. Sami culture is founded on what nature can provide rather than on exploitation.

Indeed, they practice:

• Reindeer husbandry
• Fishing
• Hunting
• Agriculture
• Collection of natural resources

Even though these activities are ancestral, some Sami still make a living from them, alongside tourism activities, while others pursue modern professions.

It should be noted that these ancestral activities have little importance in terms of turnover, but they are important because they are part of a way of life.

Reindeer husbandry

Nowadays, reindeer husbandry remains at the center of Sami culture, and it should be noted that a single herder can have more than a thousand reindeer in his herd.

The reindeer, this central element of Sami culture, provides:

• Food from its meat
• Clothing and shoes made from its hide and coat
• Tools, kitchen utensils and art objects made from its antlers

Lapland has 183,775 inhabitants compared to 200,000 reindeer, which is quite a number, isn't it?

The reindeer, an Arctic ruminant that feeds on lichen, is a fine example of a domesticated animal intimately linked to Sami culture. It is an animal that is satisfied with small amounts of water and is therefore well adapted to the snowy and icy plateaus that extend to the north of Finland. Unfortunately, due to logging and soil treatment, lichen is becoming scarce. This means that reindeer must be given supplementary feed, which makes husbandry more expensive.

Traditions related to kuksa

Concerning the kuksa, tradition holds that you should make your own kuksa or give it to someone. Giving a kuksa is giving happiness. Moreover, parents pass their kuksa on to their children to keep the traditions alive. It is also to uphold this tradition and this heritage that kuksas must be robust and durable.

Another tradition also holds that you should never wash your kuksa, for fear of losing its lucky charm! It should therefore only be rinsed in a stream or a torrent, but not everyone has one near them! So we'll simply not put it in the dishwasher and not wash it with dish soap!