Since the Sámi people’s way of life was mostly nomadic, either the reindeer Sámi traveling with their herds or the Forest Sámi following game animals, the Sámi did not consider a built place as home, but the environment of human activity in which they travelled and which they had come to know. With the reindeer and mixed economy, the Sámi’s religion began to include concepts of various economic and worship territories, male and female haltija, family cults, and weather gods and weather haltija.
A network of route deities and shrines was formed across Lapland, which were used seasonally even after the Sámi had to settle down. At that time, it was no longer possible to establish village shrines, because the religion of the Sámi was already officially Christianity, whose sanctuaries were the Lutheran church and prayer room, as well as the Orthodox tsasouna and graveyards. Even though the cult of Lapland village, or siida, was replaced by Christianity, small-scale family cults kept their hold. Among other things, they practiced healing and divination.
The most important manifestations of the sacred for the Sámi were sáiva and seida, or holy places where religious rituals were performed. There were three types of these: those used by the entire community, those used by members of the same siida, and those used by the family. The latter of these was either in the yard or in the goahti itself.
Áiligas, the sacred concept, is associated with high places, such as fells or rocks rising from the water or high islands. This occurs mainly in the reindeer Sámi people who make their living from the fell terrain.
For the Sámi, the most important family-level cult place was the boaššu (Finnish: “posio”) located on the wall opposite the entrance to the goahti. The witch drum was usually kept in this sacred area and women were forbidden to be in it. However, boaššu’s ruling deity was the feminine boaššoáhkká. Ritual taboos concerning women must be treated with caution, because information about rituals and sacrifices was usually gathered by men from men, and the perspective of women and children was completely forgotten. Likely the taboos concerning women were valid only during ritual times.
The term Sáiva (Finnish: “saivo”) is known throughout the Sámi region, but its meaning varies by language group. In the Kola Peninsula, it has meant a direction, south or southwest, while elsewhere it has been primarily associated with fresh water as opposed to sea water. Sáiva has also been a lake with particularly clear water and often without an outlet, so the concept has been associated with fishing. Such a lake was believed to have been rich with fish, but it was difficult to catch fish, and, in some places, it was even forbidden to fish from the sáiva. The lakes were also called hatch lakes, reahpenjávrit, because it was believed that there was a hole in the bottom through which the fish swam to the lake under the lake, the underwater land of the dead. This was thought to explain the intermittent lack of fish in some lakes; the fish had temporarily moved to the afterlife.
At the sáiva the sacrifices were made either to the lake itself or to the creatures that inhabited it; the dead, the haltija or the earth spirits. Sáiva is assumed to have originally meant a lake, until the word became the concept of the sacred. When the economic structure of the Sámi began to focus on reindeer nomadism, these creatures and the object of worship moved to the fells.
Seida, sieidi, seitse (Finnish: “seita”) are known all over the Sámi region. This hallowed cult place can be divided into two distinct categories, the stone seida and the tree seida.
The stone seida were usually unusually shaped natural stones that were clearly visible in treeless areas. Some stone seida had human- or animal-like features, usually naturally formed. On the other hand, seida carved by human hands are rare. The smallest stone seida were even transported alongside the families in a reindeer sleigh.
The tree seida were found in forest areas in places that were important for the annual cycle of the Sámi way of life, such as fishing or hunting places. They were either trees whose lower branches had been pruned, hand-carved tree stumps, or bundles formed from fallen trees. According to tradition, their age was unknown. Some had human features carved into them.
In addition to serving as landmarks, sacrifices were made to the seida to ensure good luck in fishing and hunting. Fishermen and hunters sacrificed their first catches to their ancestors, water spirits or the lord of game animals. Usually, the fish seida was coated with fish fat. The hunters either placed their catch on the seida or spread the meat of the prey animal on it. Since the 19th century, money, liquor, and tobacco were also used as sacrifices. To ensure luck in hunting and fishing, the seida were also given sacrificial promises, which had to be carried out when luck was encountered. Otherwise, the seida got angry and punished the person who broke the promise. The seida could also be threatened with destruction if it did not agree to help the person. However, this could have had unpleasant consequences.
Not many of Kuusamo’s seida are known, likely because their whereabouts were kept a secret. The stone seida located on Pyhävaara was destroyed in 1830 by the authorities. Entire villages used to make sacrifices at the Pyhävaara’s seida, and it was also the seida of the Kitka siida, likely also for the Maanselkä siida. The sacrifices usually took place in the fall and at the seida people both gave thanks for the caught and asked for luck for the upcoming wild deer hunt. Pyhävaara’s seida was therefore both a fish and a deer seida.
The treasure discovery from Ukonlahti in Tavajärvi has been considered a sacrifice, likely to Ukko, the god of thunder. The name began to be used in the eastern Sámi regions due to the influence of the Finns and Karelians for the Sámi’s own god Tiermas. Near the place where the Tavajärvi treasure was found, there was likely also a seida on Ukonvaara. Tiermasvaara and Iivaara are also classified as sacred places and there have likely been seida at those locations as well.