Customer Reviews

Far Northern Connections: Researching Your Sami (and Other) Ancestors in Northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia

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Like Virginia, I have been interested in my Finnish family roots since my twenties. There had been a little talk about one line of my family having "Lapp" roots I remember in discussions from when I was very small. When I started mapping my family tree, I decided to look into that family line, but I only reached dead ends. Asking family elders helped very little, as that information was either forgotten--or, for various reasons, didn't want to be shared. Having Sami ancestry has been very stigmatized in the Finnish-American community. Virginia's book helped me overcome some of the obstacles. I eventually found out that I was more than just a "little bit" Sami. I probably have at least as much Sami heritage as I do Finnish...a little bit mind-boggling to me, considering that my family has taken so much pride in our Finnish heritage. I still take pride in my Finnish roots, but now I also take pride in my Sami! Virginia also does a good job explaining why Sami heritage has been so suppressed both in the United States and abroad in a way that does not diminish the contributions and sacrifices our immigrant ancestors made for us when they created a new home for us in the United States. A must-read for anyone who is interested in pursuing genealogy and suspects they may have Sami ancestry. Studies have shown there are at least 30,000 Americans with Sami ancestry, but only about 2% are aware of their Sami identity. If this might be you, Virginia's book is a great guide to get you to your destination!

FAR NORTHERN CONNECTIONS: RESEARCHING YOUR SAMI AND OTHER ANCESTORS IN NORTHERN NORWAY, SWEDEN, FINLAND, AND RUSSIA is more than just listing of research methods for genealogists and collections catering to them: it includes charts, explanations of foreign terms, and insights into the web sites and places to begin a search. The author's years of research into her own family history lends to a fine expose of the special challenges involved in research far northern archives for genealogical data.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch