A Sami village is a geographic and economic unit where the reindeer owners collectively organize their work. In Sweden reindeer herding is a Sami right, and according to the reindeer herding legislation it is only the Sami who have the right to carry on reindeer herding. The forest Sami villages carry on reindeer herding in the forest area all year round, while the mountain Sami villages migrate with the herds from winter grazing areas in the interior of the country to the summer grazing areas on both sides of the Swedish-Norwegian border. In Tornedalen there is a form of reindeer herding by concession. Through the centuries they have lived by a combination of activities.
Specialization is a fairly recent development.
Until the different products derived from reindeer became economically interesting, there was no need to keep large reindeer herds. Parallell to reindeer herding, other modes of livelihood deriving from nature are also important. Fishing, hunting and making handicrafts give many Sami a way of subsisting in regions which have difficulty offering them other kinds of gainful employment. Fishing, especially in the mountaint lakes in S pmi is not only a sideline but is also an important complement to the reindeer herders own diet. Hunting moose and smaller game gives both food and income to the Sami who today live by combining different activities to make a living.