Rennomadismens dilemma det rennomadiska samhällets förändring i Tuorpon och Sirkas 1760-1860

Sammanfattning: The areas of study for this dissertation are the Turopon and Sirkas lappbyar (communities) in the parish of Jokkmokk during the period 1760—1860. The starting point for discussion is a decrease in population through migration to Norway, from 667 inhabitants in 1781, to 353 in 1868. The primary cause was the ecological instability of reindeer herding with recurring crises caused by poor grazing, adverse snow conditions, epizootics, and predators. The stability in reindeer herding is finally determined by the numbers of grazing animals and the carrying capacities of the pastures. A disturbance in the balance between people and animals could occur if competition from the settlers limited available pastures, or the government through taxes appropriated so much of the surplus that the subsistence level was markedly increased. A closer examination reveals, however, that no outside influences can be indicated as being responsible for the population decline.Attention must thus be directed toward the inner social processes of this pastoralist society. While the reindeer herding population diminished, the total number of reindeer remained on a relatively constant level. The resulting process of accumulation consolidated the reindeer into the hands of fewer owners. While these conclusions indicate an economically differentiated society, the marriage pattern shows that the social distance between the economic groupings was very small.By promoting economic differentiation, trade had an important potential as agent of social stratification. This potential was, however, not fully realized. The equalizing factors were stronger than the differentiating forces.