A little more of the History:

In the 19th century, Norwegian authorities put the Sami culture under pressure in order to make the Norwegian language and culture universal. A strong economic development of the north also took place, giving Norwegian culture and language status. On the Swedish and Finnish side, the authorities were much less militant in their efforts; however, strong economic development in the north led to a weakening of status and economy for the Sami.

The strongest pressure took place from around 1900 to 1940, when Norway invested considerable money and effort to wipe out Sami culture. Notably, anyone who wanted to buy or lease state lands for agriculture in Finnmark, had to prove knowledge of the Norwegian language. This also ultimately caused the dislocation in the 1920s, which increased the gap between local Sami groups (something still present today) and sometimes bears the character of an internal Sami ethnic conflict.


The controversy around the construction of the hydro-electric power station in Alta in 1979 brought Sami rights onto the political agenda.



Information from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_people.




SHAMANISM

Shamanism persisted among the Sami up until the 18th century, but no longer exists in its traditional form. (Most Sami today belong to the Lutheran churches of Norway, Sweden and Finland.)

“-this séance in 12 steps were the Shaman use the drum, toxins and joik to enter a state of trance from were he would enter different destinations. Such supernatural places are called Saiva, places where information can be gathered. Such Saiva places is described as e.g. far away places, the land of the dead or sick souls and heaven.”

“Besides the kingdom of the dead there was a happy world, Saivo which would be the Lapp equivalent of Paradise”

“To accomplish the journey during a seance the shaman use helping spirits (sáivugázzi, saivogadze) to reach different Saiva levels.”


“Saiva sarva (sarvo) – a Saiva-deer representing a spiritual support assistant (alter ego).

Saiva guelie (guolle) – a Saiva-fish or Saiva-snake to reach the underworld and travel back again.

Saiva leddie (loddle) – a Saiva-bird to the upper world and back again.”

(Quotes from this site, here: http://saamiblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/pre-christian-sami-religion-and-gods.html)




The term Sami religion usually refers to the traditional religion, practiced until approximately the 18th century.

Christianity was spread by Roman Catholic missionaries as early as the 13th century.

Increased pressure came after the Protestant Reformation, and rune drums were burned or sent to museums abroad. In this period, many Sami practiced their traditional religion at home, while turning up in church on Sunday. Since the Sami were considered to possess witchcraft powers, they were often accused of sorcery during the 17th century.

In Norway, a major effort to convert the Sami was made around 1720, when the "Apostle of the Sami" – Thomas von Westen – burned drums and converted people by force.

The Swedish Sami vicar Lars Levi Læstadius initiated a puritan Lutheran movement among the Sami around 1840. This movement is still very dominant in Sami speaking areas.





Neo-shamanism:

Today, one occasionally comes across Sami shamans offering their services, through newspaper advertisements, at new age-arrangements or for tourist groups. These shamans are not a part of an unbroken Sami religious tradition, but are rather an expression for a wish to return to traditional values. They may be compared with neo-paganism and modern druids.



- The mtDNA studies have revealed that the Sami had separated from other Europeans over 10,000 years ago, making the Sami a unique and ancient sub-group of Europeans




Now, I’ve collected a lot of information on Sami. A lot of history (mostly on Wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_people

But also from this page:

http://saamiblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/pre-christian-sami-religion-and-gods.html