Mythical landscapes and sacred natural places in the Arctic north, their exploitation through tourism and inadequate protection

Across northern Fennoscandia, Sámi sacred places originating from a pre-Christian spirituality are at risk. Many were destroyed during the seventeenth century because Sámi cosmology was condemned by the Swedish State and Church. Sámi people have continued to make offerings and pay reverence at sacred places to the spiritual powers within their culture. There is continuity where fishing and reindeer herding as subsistence activities are maintained. Now, new kinds of threats to Sámi sacred places are emerging, particularly in northern Finland. These threats come from mining, land development, and the tourism industry. The last of these is particularly problematic. Sacred places are being appropriated into tourism as destinations to visit, because the pre-Christian cosmology of the Sámi people is made exotic to attract visitors and business. The consequences are that fires, litter, drunkenness, erosion, and inconsiderate leisure pursuits harm these culturally significant and sensitive places to the extent that irreversible damage is evident as some locations. The aim of this chapter is to outline how these issues are evident at four different sacred places and in what ways and why current levels of protection from the Antiquities Act (1963) are inadequate.