The border village Neiden

Welcome to Neiden

Ä’vv Saa’mi Mu’zei / Skolt Saami Museum is a museum presenting cultural history in Njauddâm/Neiden, which opened in 2017. In the permanent exhibition Saa’mijânnam/The Skoltland, visitors will be introduced to Skolt Saami history.

Neiden- as a part of the Commondistrict (Norway, Finland and Russia) was a melting pot for cultural development and the area has a vast potential for cultural dissemination. Skolt Saami is the modern term for the people who dwelled in what today is the borderland between Norway, Finland and Russia with their unique culture and history, little known to outsiders.

Neiden is a small but outstretched settlement along the Neiden River. Characteristic for Neiden is the beautiful lush terrace landscape, which was made from sediments from the river’s erosion process. The settlements are concentrated on both sides of the river for 16 km. Around 200 people live here permanently, and there is at least the same number of people that own cottages in the area. School and groceries have been shut down, the nearest local shop is 14 km away, in Näätämö, Finland. Approximately 50 km away is the nearest town, Kirkenes.

Neiden/Njauddâm Sijdd was the westernmost of the Skolt Saami areas. People in the different sijdds migrated between seasonal dwelling places. Their life was based on their knowledge about nature’s abundance and resources. The traditional way of life with seasonal migrations was gradually made more and more difficult by the progress of the nation-states. National borders were established through the Skolt Saami sijdds, and forced people to choose nationality, which separated families. The border treaty of 1826 divided Neiden Sijdd between Norway and Russia (today Finland). What had been summer area in Njauddâm, eventually became an all-year settlement in Norwegian Neiden; the Skolt Village. From the 1830s and onwards, there was a significant influx of Finnish immigrants. With its ethnic diversity, Neiden became mixing pot for cultural development. But the increased immigration also led to competition for resources and land. The Skolt Saami who chose to become Norwegian after the treaty of 1826, soon became a minority, outnumbered by the Finns.

Lake Iijärvi, north of Enare in Finland, is the beginning of the Neiden River. The river mouths out into the Neiden Fjord, a southern inlet of the Varanger Fjord. For the early settlements, the river was an essential resource, and is still very attractive to anglers. Written sources from 1598 describe the salmon fishing at the Skoltefossen waterfall. This cast net fishing is a tradition still alive today! Neiden’s primary industry is agriculture, there is a sheepfarmer and several North Sámi reindeer siidas in the area. Bears, woverines and eagles have throughout the last years made sheepfarming and reindeer husbandry increasingly challenging. The fantastic nature with sea, highlands and rivers provides a rich outdoorlife, and possibilities for small scale wildlife tourism. Local people are still today harvesting natural resources by hunting, fishing and picking berries.