Gákti on the Pulse of Time: The double perspective of the traditional Sámi dress 1

The chapter examines how social changes and histories of the Sámi can be communicated through the Sámi dress, gákti. By applying the concept of double perspective, the chapter suggests that the traditional Sámi dress refers to Indigenous People’s experiences of the coexistence of two overlapping realities, the Sámi and the Western. The meanings of the Sámis’ own worldview, social norms and values, as well as the majority’s political and economic impacts, are interwoven in the traditional Sámi dress. This makes gákti an indicator of very intricate system of Sámi society. It carries a traditional knowledge that is based on a very old and essential core of the Sámi worldview, but at the same time, the gákti reflects different historical processes, ideologies and economic realities. All these realities are hidden in the design, decorations and the meanings of gákti.