Are there any NHL players with known Sami descent?

[Norwegianoiler]

Saamuel *

Säämueel. In jest, northern brothers. Torille!

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Wasn’t Tomas Holmstrom part Sami?

 

[tny760]

Sami...
Salo
Kapanen
Sosa

Shall I go on?

go on a walk outside

 

[Albatros]

Sorry to go bringing back an absolute dinosaur of a topic, but this is a topic of interest to me as I have a line of my family that was Forest Sami from Sodankylä, Finland.

From what I know Salming is the only one at the NHL level to at least openly have Sami roots. It's possible there are others-- north of Luleå was mentioned, and over in Finland I've been told by one researcher that anyone from north of a line extending from Oulu to Pudasjärvi to Kuusamo likely has Sami roots as well.

However most Swedish and Finnish players tend to come from further south in the country, Norway is far from being a hockey powerhouse, and Russia tried to eradicate its small Sami group as much as it could in the early Soviet days.


This is certainly true outside of Norway, Sweden, and Finland and their diasporae. I was unaware of what the Sami even were until ten years ago (I had only heard the term Lapp, which I understand is highly derogatory) even though I have roots extending into their territory.

Oh boy, the term "Forest Sámi" is easily more controversial than Lapp. Most Sámi regard these to be ethnic Finns that want to usurp Sámi identity and political autonomy.

Factually some may have distant Sámi ancestry, but as good as none speak Sámi languages at all and most weren't even born into families with such identity, just adopted it in adulthood a bit like how some white Americans decide that they're actually in part or full Native American.

 

[CanadienShark]

go on a walk outside

You miss the joke?

 

[Phil McKraken]

Sami Pahlsson

I feel like many people think Påhlsson's first name is Sami, but it's actually Samuel and "Sammy".

 

[Bear of Bad News]

You miss the joke?

By the time the twentieth person or so repeats it, I don't think the term "joke" qualifies.

 

[CanadienShark]

By the time the twentieth person or so repeats it, I don't think the term "joke" qualifies.

No reason to be upset though. Sometimes it's easier to just ignore posts you don't like.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

No reason to be upset though. Sometimes it's easier to just ignore posts you don't like.

I think "go on a walk outside" is generally great advice this time of year, though. At least in Colorado.

 

[CanadienShark]

I think "go on a walk outside" is generally great advice this time of year, though. At least in Colorado.

It's still like 30° and humid as hell at 1am here in Phnom Penh... So I will not.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

It's still like 30° and humid as hell at 1am here in Phnom Penh... So I will not.

Dang, that sounds dreadful. Good choice.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

As someone with Swedish ancestry I was always fascinated with the Sami people!

I was fortunate enough to travel to Lapland and meet some of them a few years ago, toured the village and pet some Reindeer, ate a Reindeer taco too. Definitely commercialized for the tourists but the fact that people actually live up there is crazy.

There's also not very many White Indigenous tribes in the world (they might be the only one), which makes their continued existence more interesting!

 

[CanadienShark]

Dang, that sounds dreadful. Good choice.

Won't complain about the location, I just can't handle the heat at night, let alone the day during this heat wave. Cheers buddy, have a good night (or day for you).

 

[tny760]

No reason to be upset though. Sometimes it's easier to just ignore posts you don't like.

it's a very low-brow joke, some would probably call it offensive, i think it's just stupid and especially so after the 10th time

 

[CanadienShark]

it's a very low-brow joke, some would probably call it offensive, i think it's just stupid and especially so after the 10th time

Interesting that you singled me out. Have a good rest of your day or night.

 

[tny760]

As someone with Swedish ancestry I was always fascinated with the Sami people!

I was fortunate enough to travel to Lapland and meet some of them a few years ago, toured the village and pet some Reindeer, ate a Reindeer taco too. Definitely commercialized for the tourists but the fact that people actually live up there is crazy.

There's also not very many White Indigenous tribes in the world (they might be the only one), which makes their continued existence more interesting!

hard to describe how miserable those winters are up there. almost no sun, painfully cold, physically isolated.. and you make your living doing hard work outside. thankfully i only worked (around) there for a few months total and mostly during the summer but man..

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

Interesting that you singled me out. Have a good rest of your day or night.

If you read the thread you would see that is not true, but if you read the thread you probably wouldn't have posted your joke in the first place though

Your comedic timing was excellent though, making your joke immediately after multiple people complained about how unfunny it was.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

Growing up in Luleå, 1000 km north of Stockholm, I remember talks between friends and classmates about whether we could apply for “Sapmi citizenship” or the right to vote for the Sami parliament: I think you needed to have had at least one grandparent who’d spoken a Sami language in their household growing up. It wasn’t completely uncommon, but I imagine it being much more prevalent further inlands from a large-ish hub like Luleå.

On both my parents’ sides of the family, the ancestors had been established in the north for many generations, and I know that at least on my mother’s side we have distant Sami relatives. Less distantly, we have Tornedalians and, unfortunately, Swedish oppressors, to be frank. Race biologists, nazis and people whose job it was to beat the Swedish into Sami children.

I think that if you dive into the lineage of Swedish hockey players from the Northern parts of the country, I’d think it’s quite likely that you’ll find Sami descent. With the shameful history of the Swedish treatment of Sami people and culture, it’s probably not uncommon to find Sami heritage buried in families’ lineages.

Us Luleå fans have carried the Sami connection with pride, but generally as a response to being called the derogatory “Lap”/“Laplander” label by fans of southern teams. You don’t hear it as often nowadays, but as a kid I remember us fans in the standing section singing “The Luleå Joik” in games.

Okay this was my first time hearing about Tornedalians though... more research awaits!

 

[CanadienShark]

If you read the thread you would see that is not true, but if you read the thread you probably wouldn't have posted your joke in the first place though

Your comedic timing was excellent though, making your joke immediately after multiple people complained about how unfunny it was.

Have a good day, or night.

 

[johan f]

I'm writing a fanfic with an emphasis on Sami culture and the issues they face.

Faced

 

[Roomba With a Bauer]

Wasn’t Tomas Holmstrom part Sami?

I wouldn't be surprised, he comes from the region of Sweden with the heaviest Sami heredity, and the region where the Sami language still persists the most. The name of his hometown is Pitèa and the Sami language is called pite sami. Circumstantial but there's definitely a "there" there.

Add in the fact that his swedish teammates said his Swedish was so heavily accented that they could barely understand him and I'm pretty sure there's some Sami in his bloodline.

Fun fact: Sami is a part of the Finno-Ugric language family so it's closer to Hungarian than it is to Swedish. This has been your Fun Fact of the day.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

I wouldn't be surprised, he comes from the region of Sweden with the heaviest Sami heredity, and the region where the Sami language still persists the most. The name of his hometown is pitèa and the Sami language is called pite sami. Circumstantial but there's definitely a "there" there.

Add in the fact that his swedish teammates said his Swedish was so heavily accented that they could barely understand him and I'm pretty sure there's some Sami in his bloodline.

I vaguely remember Lidstrom and Franzen saying he was basically a Laplander.

 

[YippieKaey]

Borje Salming and Leo Komarav are listed as at least part Sami, looking at articles on the Sami.

The entertainment/music world shows Rennee Zellweger, Joni Mitchell, and Jaco Pastorius as at least part Sami also.

Interesting thread, and I learned something.

I read Oscar Pistorius and got really confused lol.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Oh boy, the term "Forest Sámi" is easily more controversial than Lapp. Most Sámi regard these to be ethnic Finns that want to usurp Sámi identity and political autonomy.

Factually some may have distant Sámi ancestry, but as good as none speak Sámi languages at all and most weren't even born into families with such identity, just adopted it in adulthood a bit like how some white Americans decide that they're actually in part or full Native American.

I’ve never heard of Forest Sami being controversial before, or any of these claims. Not necessarily saying it’s all wrong, but where did you learn this from?

I wouldn't be surprised, he comes from the region of Sweden with the heaviest Sami heredity, and the region where the Sami language still persists the most. The name of his hometown is Pitèa and the Sami language is called pite sami. Circumstantial but there's definitely a "there" there.

Add in the fact that his swedish teammates said his Swedish was so heavily accented that they could barely understand him and I'm pretty sure there's some Sami in his bloodline.

Fun fact: Sami is a part of the Finno-Ugric language family so it's closer to Hungarian than it is to Swedish. This has been your Fun Fact of the day.

I’ve never heard of Holmström being part Sami before but it’s not unlikely if his family has been settled up north for many generations.

His poor/accentuated English has nothing to do with him being Sami however. He doesn’t speak Swedish with a Sami accent, but with a very distinct Piteå accent, which isn’t to be confused with “Pite Sami”.

Many towns along the northern Swedish coast are situated by the outlet of a river, after which the towns are named (Umeå, Skellefteå, Piteå, Luleå for example, they’re by the Ume, Skellefte, Pite and Lule rivers respectively). Some (perhaps many) of these place names have Sami etymology, but that does not necessarily mean that these towns are heavily influenced by Sami people and culture. Generally, they are towns that grew around industries, including Piteå where I think of sawmills and paper industry, and my hometown of Luleå, where the steel mill remains a major employer.

If you follow these rivers inland, you’re likely to encounter more Sami people and communities with bilingual signs and whatnot, but being born in the city of Piteå is not a strong indicator that you’re of Sami descent.

 

[Roomba With a Bauer]

I’ve never heard of Forest Sami being controversial before, or any of these claims. Not necessarily saying it’s all wrong, but where did you learn this from?



I’ve never heard of Holmström being part Sami before but it’s not unlikely if his family has been settled up north for many generations.

His poor/accentuated English has nothing to do with him being Sami however. He doesn’t speak Swedish with a Sami accent, but with a very distinct Piteå accent, which isn’t to be confused with “Pite Sami”.

Many towns along the northern Swedish coast are situated by the outlet of a river, after which the towns are named (Umeå, Skellefteå, Piteå, Luleå for example, they’re by the Ume, Skellefte, Pite and Lule rivers respectively). Some (perhaps many) of these place names have Sami etymology, but that does not necessarily mean that these towns are heavily influenced by Sami people and culture. Generally, they are towns that grew around industries, including Piteå where I think of sawmills and paper industry, and my hometown of Luleå, where the steel mill remains a major employer.

If you follow these rivers inland, you’re likely to encounter more Sami people and communities with bilingual signs and whatnot, but being born in the city of Piteå is not a strong indicator that you’re of Sami descent.

That's really interesting, thanks for the information! I've always been interested in the Finno-Ugric language family since it has such a weird and wide-ranging distribution but I don't get many chances to speak with people from that part of the world. I studied it in linguistics before I switched to speech pathology.