Sijti Jarnge

Helgeland is an old Sami settlement area. This particularly applies to the valleys inland. Cultural monuments, place names and a rich oral tradition testify that the Sami population has ancient roots in this region. In many places the Sami were the majority population well into the 19th century. After 1850, the Norwegian farming population grew rapidly - partly as a result of immigration.

Reindeer herding is the industry that is most important in terms of identity for the Sami in the Helgeland region. - although many Sami work in the industrial and service industries. Within reindeer herding, characteristic cultural features - such as language, housekeeping and dress customs - have survived the harsh Norwegianisation of earlier times, for which reason this industry is perceived as the very backbone of Southern Sami society.

That Hattfjelldal became the host municipality for Sijti Jarnge was no coincidence. The municipality is a typical inland municipality - where nature bears the stamp of long-term but gentle Sami cultural influence. Here, too, reindeer herding has been dominant, but it is a historical reality that many of those who cleared farms in the valley in the 19th century were of Sami origin.

Hattfjelldal is called Aarborte in Sami. The name describes a landscape where there is early spring grazing for the reindeer.

The most important reason for locating a Sami cultural center here, however, was the fact that the Sami School for Mid-Norway has had a place of residence in the central village since 1951. It has always been the assumption that these two institutions should cooperate and mutually benefit from each other.