Sacred Island Ukonsaari Of The Sami People Will Be Respected – Tourism Company Ends Landings On The Island

Conny Waters  – AncientPages.com – The beautiful island of Unkonsaari in Lake Inari, northern Finland is sacred to the Sami people.  Unfortunately, this holy place has also been a tourist attraction for long, and it has happened far too often that visitors have been disrespectful. Alcohol bottles and trash have been found all over the sacred island.

The Sami people and archaeologists have long argued that landings on the sacred island must be banned and tourists’ ill-manned behavior must be stopped.

Sacred Island Ukonsaari. Credit: Tapio Heikkilä, Ministry of the Environment

Located about 11 kilometers northeast of the village of Inari, the 30 meters high, 50 meters wide and 100 meters long island Ukonsaari is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was listed as one of Europe’s 20 most beautiful places, but visitors have shown ignorance or disregard for the Sami people, the oldest culture in large areas of northern Europe.

The Sami people never had a sovereign state of their own and today, they live in four countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. Approximately 80,000 Sami people live in these four countries; however, around half live in almost all parts of Norway.

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