Older Sami Women Living in the Arctic: A Cultural Background that Breaks with Western Conventions

This article is about older Sami women living in the Arctic region in Norway. The Sami are indigenous people of northern Scandinavia and northern Russia; Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. The Sami people have a background that breaks with western traditions. In order to understand their cultural values, beliefs and worldviews anchored in “the living body”, elder care should consider their cultural, ethnic and linguistic distinctiveness. The three older Sami women presented in this text, Maret, Beret and Betty, have lived in close contact with of lige of older Sami women nature throughout their lives. They are particularly sensitive to restrictions that have reduced their freedom and quality of life.