Allemann, L. The sami of the Kola Peninsula : about the life of an ethnic minority in the Soviet Union / Lukas Allemann ; [transl. by Michael Lomax]. - Rovaniemi : University of Lapland Printing Centre, 2013. - 151 p. : ill., map, portr. ; 25 см. - (Senter for samiske studier, Skriftserie ; 19).

The Sami of the Kola Peninsula 3. The Sami of Russia before the October Revolution Among the northern regions of the Russian state the Kola Peninsula has always oc­ cupied a special position due to its relative proximity to European Russia and to its closeness to Norway, Sweden and Finland. The Kola Peninsula was colonized earlier than Siberia by the Russians. Moreover, there were always trade contacts with the people of the neighbouring areas: Karelians, Norwegians, Swedes and Russians. Thanks to these contacts Sami culture very early began to change in many areas, and it would be wrong to assert that it was only with the emergence of the Soviet Union that the traditional Sami way of life changed. Before examining more closely the his­ tory of the colonization of the Kola Peninsula, we give, however, a brief overview of the main features of the traditional Sami way of life. Although the life histories of the interviewees are presented only in Chapter 4, for the sake of clarity we give already some statements by the interviewees about their ancestors. 3.1 The traditional way of life Like all sub-polar regions of the world, the settlement area of the Sami is character­ ized by reindeer herding. Siidas - or pogosty in Russian - are the traditional Sami form of settlement. These settlements were very small, with populations of less than one hundred to a few hundred. A pogost included not only the settlement itself, but also the corresponding grazing and hunting grounds and other territories necessary for the life of a clan. At the turn of the twentieth century there were 18 pogosty on the entire Kola Peninsu­ la .66 The original settlement and social system of the pogosty was characterized by territorially and dialectally strongly demarcated family clans. This system remained largely intact until the commencement of collectivization in the 1930s. Families did not usually live in large groups under one roof, as in general sons moved after marriage with their new families to a new home. Work was never very strictly divided into men's and women's tasks, but the women tended to take re­ 66Gucol/Vinogradova/Samorukova 2007, 10. Senterfor samiske studier, Skriftserie nr. 19 31