Jokkmokk [2]

Rope: take thin fresh spruce-roots and scrape the bark off them using the back of the knife against your thigh. Now cut them into 3 to 5 strips with the knife – or split them like spills – and wind them round your fist like a skein and knot them together. Boil them in a pan for one or 2 hours with a good deal of ash and afterwards, while they are still soft from being boiled, run them 3 or 4 times across the back of the knife over your knee. Now twist them into small ropes. The same is done with birch-roots, but less commonly.

The roots used for making baskets should preferably be whole rather than split. Pine-roots produce work of bad quality. Containers for cheese are also made this way.

“Jerja” is scraped with a knife and the stalk eaten when it is tender, like “fatno”.7

A Lapp always sits nearest the front of his hut so that he is closest to the drinking pan, which is kept right at the front. Any guest sits next in on a special reindeer hide.

The river in Kvikkjokk flows in winter as well as in summer. If the river were melt-water, as people assume, it would not flow in winter when it is so cold in the mountains. It must, therefore, come from springs in the district.

Times: Midnight “kaskia”, past midnight “pojela kaskia”, very early morning “theleeteilyja”, sunrise “pejvi morotak”, 2 to 3 hours after sunrise “arreitet”, milking time between 8 and 9 o’clock “arrapejvi”, midday “kaspapeivi”, 5 to 6 o’clock “eketis peive”, sunset “peiveliti”, night “ia”, Sunday “Sotno peivi”, Monday “Mannutaka”, Tuesday “Tistaka”, Wednesday “Kaka vocku”, Thursday “Tourestaka”, Friday “Perietaka”, Saturday “Lavutaka”.

Names of months and weeks. Months, none. Weeks, a few.

Midsummer “Midtsomar vacku”. Feast of St Peter “Pelasmässa vacku”. Goose Week “Gassa vacku”. Middle of the Summer “Gaskakis”, Feast of St Margaret “Marchit”, Feast of St Olav “Vollis”, …”Vehak”, Feast of St Laurence “Lauras”, Reindeer Calf Week “Orryk” (2 year old reindeer calves rub the velvet from their horns). Feast of St Bartholomew “Barti”, …”Hoppmil”, Feast of St Mary “Margi”, …”Beharris”, Feast of St Matthew “Matthus” … “Michel” …”Perkit”, Winter Week “Talvi”.

The Lapp staff: it has an iron spike at the top with which he attacks bears and wolves in deep snow.

The bottom-most end is iron-shod. At the bottom is basketwork made of roots and attached through a hole in the staff with a lace made of reindeer leather. He uses this when ski-running so that the staff does not go down through the snow. The staff itself is round and made of birch.

Ski:

Some people use two skis of equal length, others have a smaller left-hand ski which, except for the front end, is covered with hairy reindeer hide. This provides a better grip on the snow since the hair offers some resistance. This is most common in Kemi Lappmark where there are plenty of wild reindeer.

The average thickness of the whole ski is 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch. The ski is also slightly concave underneath and has a shallow furrow along its length.

The sinews best suited to the making of thread are taken from 6 month old reindeer calves, since these make the most pliable thread. The sinews are then covered with tin foil.

The sinews are hung up on a peg and dried in the sun, but they are not boiled.

I have a sample of twisted thread that demonstrates the high degree of skill they have developed in this art. I believe very few ladies could match it.