B6. The Sami Summer Dairy

Kjøpsfjord begins with a Finnish farm which is called Kjøpsnes. It reaches two inlets in the bay towards the east, and there are no more Finns in the same fjord but they have a summer dairy for their cattle.

This was written by the administrative leader in Salten, Claus Urne, in 1599.

He mentions the same description for Fuglfjorden, Tømmeråsfjorden, Hellemofjorden og Grunnfjorden.

It tells us that the permanently based Sami had their farms at the outermost part of the fjord. The remaining area of the fjord was used for summer dairy farming.

Such summer dairying was usual among the Sami, though it seems to have become more seldom among the remaining population in North Norway.

After a while, many of these dairies became permanent settlements. And new dairies were made in the mountains.