On time-reckoning in old Saami culture

Abstract

Time-reckoning in old Saami culture was an orientation towards macrocosmos and microcosmos, conditioned by factors in the ecological environment affecting the course of man's practical activity. In a society or a culture where hunting and fishing and breeding animals were the chief occupations, the concepts were influenced by the circumstances surrounding these activities. The concepts of time and time-reckoning were connected with a special content—winter and summer—caused by the biocosmic rhythm. Fauna and flora gave the indications of the coming season. Among these the bear' s hibernation was a stable and prominent sign, due to his extreme sensitivity towards the biocosmic rhythm. We can call this an ecological measuring of time, well-fitting to the different occupations of a hunter, his settlement and life-style of the main seasons. As the bear was linked to the points of time when light and darkness were shifting, the bear became an important factor in old Saami culture for the orientation on both macrocosmic and microcosmic level.