Ájtte Museum Lappland

This illuminating museum is Sweden’s most thorough introduction to Sami culture. Follow the ‘spokes’ radiating from the central chamber, each dealing with a different theme – from traditional costume, silverware, creatures from Sami folk tales and 400-year-old painted shamans’ drums, to replicas of sacrificial sites and a diagram explaining the uses and significance of various reindeer entrails. The beautifully showcased collection of traditional silver jewellery features heavy collars, now making a comeback among Sami women after a long absence. One section details the widespread practice of harnessing the rivers in Lappland for hydroelectric power and the consequences this has had for the Sami people and their territory. And there is a large fauna section featuring some impressive taxidermied mammals and birds of the Swedish Arctic.