Arvidsjaur is one of the Swedish ‘Church Towns’ (most of them in the North are) and the town was a centralised meeting pace for Sami people to gather for religious celebrations and festivals. The first church was built in 1607 (not this one)
Due to church attendance laws (thanks to the zealous priests and enforced by the monarchy) a certain amount of ‘pew time’ was imposed upon the Sami people. In order to make their church visits more manageable they built small cottages (Gåhties) and stores (Ájties) for overnighting. 80 of these buildings are preserved in Lappstaden which is opposite the church. They are still used today.
These are the Gåhties, they are made from forest timber and the roof is birch bark under timber poles. In the roof is a hole to allow smoke out.
A few of the Ájties, these were to store supplies and personal belongings during winter but also lived in during summer
“I want one"
Probably the nearest I will get to an Elk….
I took this photo because I could not help but think of the term ‘rednecks’…… Note the clothing style, hats and beards, just like something out of an American movie…… The people on the table on the right all got into a massive pickup truck full of wood machinery and hunting equipment shortly afterwards. Then about an hour later I saw the group on the left sat in their (big) American cars posing in the car park……..
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