The Bingham County news. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1918-1930, 1923-06-01
BOUNDARIES Mean
LITTLE TO LAPPS
Queer Little Rovers of the Arctic
Are Bred in-the- Bone In
ternati0naIists.

| iucu tHTcdtcH Ute existence OF ulS pc0
pie by interfering with pasturage To-
their reindeer, reintroduces these row
ers OF the Arctic to world that haf
almost forgotten them. "A bulletir
from the Washington headquarterl
of the National Geographic 30
ciety tells something of what II
terms these queer little folk who live
under the rays Of the midnight sun
and the darkness Of the winter mid
day."
'The Lapps are bred-in-the-bone In
ternstlonalists," says the bulletin
Like the Papago Indians Of Arizona
and Mexico and the forest dwellers
along the Brazilian-Peruvian line
they have a lofty disregard for po-
litical boundaries; they not only
cross as they see fit, but take great
herds Of reindeer with them, pasturing
them today in Sweden and tomorrow
In Norway with scant ceremony.
NomadIsm Must Be Served.
The Lappland Of the maps spreads
into four distinct countries: Norway,
Sweden, Finland and Russia. Once
the Laps paid no attention whatever
to any Of the boundary lines in their
region. But Russian and Finnish
boundaries were eventually closed ON
cially against Norway and Sweden !;
and while some struggling still takes
place, the larger movements were
stopped. Norway and Sweden, how
ever take official cognizance Of the
needs Of their nomadic joint-citizens,
and have a treaty agreement whereby
Lapps may cross from Sweden in
summer and move to Norway's north
west coast, and in the winter may
cross from Norway to inland Sweden.
aside from the real dwarf peo-
pies, such as the pygmies of central
Africa, the Lapps are the smallest
people in the eastern hemisphere.
Their average height is in the neigh
borhood of four feet, seven inches-a
physical condition ascribed to the age
long wanderings Of their ancestors in
the frozen cheerless region of the
north. It has even been suggested
that the Lapps were the first inhabit-
ants Of the frozen zone after the great
glacial sheet Of the Ice Age receded
and made northern Europe habitable.
Many centuries ago they are supposed
to have lived throughout the Scan
dinavian peninsula, but with the ar
rival of other peoples they were
forced farther north.
ffrHba ,aindnar &c tl,t xr,i ut oil
Of Lappland, and about it their life
has centered for ages. 1t carries them
upon its back and draws their loads, !
gives them milk and cheese and |
meat for food, clothes them with its |
skins, and furnishes materials for !,
implements and utensils from It's
bones The typical life of a Lapp- !
lander has ever been that of a nomadic |
herder, living in tents and following |
his herds to new locations when sea-
sonal changes and pasturage necessi-
ties dictated.
"The Lapps have been decreasing
in numbers in late years, and Lapp- I
land Is now far from being land
peopled predominantly by Lapps, and
still less by Lapp nomads. In Swed-
ish Lappland, for example, only about
per cent of the inhabitants are
Lapps. 1t Is the pushing In of a more
settled people that has made life so
hard for the rowing aborigines. And
there has been a desertion of nomad-
ism by some Lapps. Where once
IL nd IN
there are now numerous
settled. agricultural Lapps; and 9TH
srs who fish for living Some have
urned miner in the rich iron fields
If Swedish Lappland.
Establish American Industry.
"Christianity was taken to the
apps only in the last few centuries,
md there are observers who still
question whether their somewhat con-
used religious ideas are more strong
Y marked by Christian or pagan prac-
ices. The Russian Lapps especially
eem to insist on thoroughgoing prag-
natism in their religion. 1t is told of
hese along the Arctic coast that they
make offerings at the shrine of Boris
Hob when starting on fishing ex-
edition, and that II they are unsuc-
essful they straightway retrieve their
fferings These same Russian Lapps,
p to few decades ago, preferred to
teal their brides from an enemy or q
rather than to obtain them by
urchase or persuasion.
'The United States is largely In
ebted to Laps for an important and
,pidly growing industry. The first
forts to Introduce reindeer into
laska were not very successful be-
luse of lack Of expert knowledge
| breeding, and herd management
everal score Lapps were induced to
D to Alaska to take charge OF the
,terprise in 1898, and their skill gave
.indeer raising there 4 great boost.
he natives learned from the Lapps,
I'D now hundreds OF thousands of
,indeer in Alaska are turning other
Use useless moss into food and
othing materials for the territory
I'D the states as we'll"