Abstract

Among the Norwegian Sami the secret and the unspoken continue to be crucial postures in traditional medicine and religious cults at sieidi (sacred places). In contrast to the artistic revival and the acknowledgments granted to indigenous people in recent decades – at the basis of both the cultural heritage politics and the rediscovery of traditions (contemporary shamanism) – the survival of these cultural elements in intimate spheres reveals the on-going difficulties in accepting and openly manifest part of the Sami history. Nowadays the attitude of preserving this cultural knowledge is adopted by many actors (healers, archaeologists, local users of sieidi) in order to protect or carry on certain practices without incurring in stigmatization and public accuse of superstition.