Anna Öhlund/imagebank.sweden
Shiitake mushrooms grow in the Kiruna mine.
Gravlax on ice at the world renowned Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi. Magnus Skoglöf/imagebank.sweden
the area using settlers from what is now Finland and southern Sweden. Natural resources like hydroelectricity, timber and minerals from Lappland later played a key role during Sweden’s industrialization. Today, despite large-scale assimilation into the dominant Swedish culture, Finnish and Sámi minorities continue to maintain their cultures and identities. The biggest city in Lappland is Kiruna; it’s also the northernmost city in all of Sweden, with 18,148 inhabitants (2010). The arctic city has been covered in international media in recent years since the whole town is being relocated to avoid falling into the mine it’s built on - known as “the giant move,” the ambitious 20-year project
involves moving the city two miles to the east of its present location. The actual move of culturally important buildings started in 2017 and the final phase is expected during 2025-2026.
Fresh foods
Not surprisingly, salmon and other fish along with löjrom are on the menu when you visit Lappland. Some of the Sámi specialties, such as gahkku or suovas (reindeer meat) may not come as a surprise, but how about Kiruna grown shiitake mushrooms? The shiitake mushrooms are grown inside the Kiruna mine. They grow on wooden logs purchased from a factory in Finland where they have been inseminated with fungus spores. The logs can
The Sami make up one of the world’s least numerous native peoples, with around 70 to 80,000 individuals living in Sápmi, in what is now parts of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia. About 20,000 Sami live in Sweden — with their own cultural heritage, language, flag and parliament. Photo: Hans-Olof Utsi/imagebank.sweden
Reindeer herders have the most dangerous line of work in Sweden, according to a study that analyzed the causes of deaths among all jobs in the country. The number of deaths among them was more than twice that of farmers and more than three times the total of construction workers during 1961-2000. There are an estimated 300,000 reindeer in Sweden that occupy around 10 percent of the Swedish Sami population. The hides are used for clothing, handicrafts and fashion, and the meat for food. Reindeer herding is, together with the Sami languages, considered to be the core of the Sami culture. DECEMBER 15, 2018 19