VII
and carried it on their backs. The pack train set off homeward. A Lapp had taken a young bull on a lead to slaughter him at home by the tent. The bull was untamed and in a complete rage; it took both skill and strength to tow the wild animal forward between the trees and rocky outcroppings for seven or eight kilometers. The path of the Lapp and the bull was very irregular; ultimately, they disappeared far ahead of us. The reindeer caravan stepped sedately behind, with people and dogs. Now came the reaction to an exhausting day; everyone was rather silent and tired. Little by little, it grew dark and the stars came out. It was late when we finally glimpsed the glowing tents far below. Inside sat those who’d stayed home, longing for news of the herd and for fresh reindeer meat. VII In August the Lapps have quite an important task; they collect“shoehay ” to use during the year. For stuffing their shoes they use very long sedge grass that grows in certain places. Whole small expeditions are equipped for this purpose,which for the most part consist of girls.They carry a sack of food and some bedclothes, so they can be away for a few days. The grass is cut off near the root with a sharp knife. The straw must not become tangled; later, when the day’s yield is sorted out, the grass is gathered into small bundles that are tied together at the top. The roots are knocked hard against a stone, so all the loose, coarse bits of straw fall off. The bundles of hay are hung up to dry, two by two, over a pole.When they’re thoroughly dry, they’re twisted together in a long strand, which is further twisted into a thick ring. One can use this suoidnefierra, or hay-ring, all year. In Västerbotten and the southern areas of Lapmark the women do more with the hay. There, they run a comb with very sharp steel teeth through it until it grows quite fine and soft.The fine-combed hay naturally feels warmer and is comfortable for the foot at first, but it clumps together faster and grows damp more easily than the coarser hay used in the North. Already in August we had heavy snow squalls, but the approach of winter wasn’t seriously apparent until September, when the snow could linger several days, and the ice on the lakes and marshes was quite thick. Of course that alternated with splendid days of sunshine, and the mountain forests were a marvel of color. The birch’s shiny gold coins fell down on the reddest of red ground. The lower slopes of the mountains were golden; further up, violet. With the Lapps in the High Mountains On top lay new snow and above that a high radiant blue September sky. When it grew dark, the northern lights fanned out and waved under the stars. One evening there was a golden gateway to the south, and to the north sharp bright rays shot like bundles of rockets up under all the stars, as if from the top of Ripanen. The tents glowed like small volcanoes; out of the open cone poured a column of fire—red smoke and sparks, which climbed and died out in the darkness above. One evening it snowed, so there were five centimeters on the ground, and long after it was dark, the children ran around outside. Even for Lapp children the first snow has something festive about it. They also amused themselves with wading through ice water in the brook, where it was deepest and stoniest . The game began with jumping over the brook with the help of a vaulting pole, but since the jump ended badly in the water, the game turned into who could get over the worst section. That they were wading in water practically up to their waists didn’t bother them; after all, they had on leather trousers, although it wasn’t clear if, after drying out all summer, these were watertight. The children merely hardened themselves to the difficult life that awaited them as herders. The time for moving on grew near. Like the other men, Nikki went off for a few days to look over the sleds and winter belongings that had been left behind in the mountains last spring when they had to shift from sleds to pack reindeer. They...
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