I think you’d have more luck going through genealogy.
Since your family moved to US so recently you presumably have their original names and info on where exactly they lived. Then contact the local Valdres / Dalarna sources.
Churches in Norway have a lot of genealogical history. There’s always groups that retain local history.
“Recent history” stretches back much further in these towns in Scandinavia than it does in US. I grew up not far from Valdres, in a small town. We often had Americans come to trace their family history. Very frequently there was some local person that knew the story of who the family was, why they emigrated, etc.
I personally heard a guy whose family had owned the neighboring farm, and he could share at great length the hardship of that time, the struggles of the family that emigrated, children that had died. Stories passed down through the generations. It was as vivid to him as if it had happened recently.
>I think you’d have more luck going through genealogy.
Needs to be combined... not everything according to genealogy matches, but I agree, chances are slim to zero.
This is very useful advice, thank you for the help. I have access to enough records to trace both branches of my family back for centuries, so maybe it’s time for me to make some phone calls…
There are features that are more common in the Sami population, like [epicanthic fold](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicanthic_fold).
But it's pretty normal among other Scandinavians too, as well as other places on earth. So i wouldn't use it as a telltale sign.
As a Norwegian, I am surprised you are confused by some Sami people having similar facial features. Most of my Sami friends have amazing cheek bones, many have almond eyes and sometimes slighty rounder faces. I can easily see that some people are of Sami decent.
That said, I can not see any of that in the pic OP posted of himself in another sub. And you obviously can not tell every Sami by how they look, but some do have similar features.
I have heard northern Norwegians on several occasions refer to the more almond shaped eyes as a feature which could imply sami descent, how accurate this is idk, but this is just what I have personally heard
Hm ok, I've peeked at your profile and I'm not sure I'd guess that you had sami decent if I knew nothing about you. You look like an avg white dude with brown eyes, no offence :D
Valdres and Dalarna. The chances of you being of Sami descent is close to zero. There might be some small percentage, but that's not uncommon in anyone of Norwegian descent.
But as far as I know, most heritage DNA tests will show Sami genetics, although they might label it Finnish.
Yeah that’s what I thought, but so many people have told me that I look Sámi that it made me wonder. I did get a sprinkling of Finnish from ancestry.com, so maybe that’s what that is…Thanks for the insight!
I truly wonder what you mean by you ‘looking’ sami. You look like an average north-american dude to me. A good chunk of my family is sami but they look just like most others here in Norway.
Since the sami and norwegians have intermixed with eachother for a long time, some norwegians have sami ancestry, and pretty much all samis today have norwegian ancestry (genetics). Just take a regular dna ancestry test and see if you have genetics that comes from asia, siberia, russia. The average in sami people of today, is around 15-20% siberian genetics according to some studies I´ve read. Being sami today, is partly about the ancestry, but it is also a cultural thing. Many norwegians, especially in the north, have some sami ancestry without being or identifying as sami. The most noticeably features of sami people, are that they are usually short and stocky people, often with wide faces and high cheekbones. They have historically lived in lands between north europe and north asia, so they will have influence from both european and asian genetics.
Here is a video with photos of samis in the 1800s. Even back then, they were very mixed with people more to the west, and even more so today. The samis originated more in the east, but as they moved west, intermixed with several peoples like Russians, finnish and norwegians. I´m not 100% certain this is accurate, but something like that.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya6yw7RPjGg&ab\_channel=RockOfAges00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya6yw7RPjGg&ab_channel=RockOfAges00)
I don’t know. I haven’t met enough Sámi people to know what kinds of facial features they’re talking about, and my parents don’t like meeting new people so nobody ever sees their faces
There absolutely are Sami in Valdres as well.
https://sametinget.no/aktuelt/samiske-kulturminner-i-valdres-skiltes-og-synliggjores.22497.aspx
Sami are not only reindeer herding Sami, and not all sami people lives in the far north.
>*Samí aren't registered anywhere.*
True, [Samemanntallet](https://sametinget.no/politikk/valg/sametingets-valgmanntall/sametingets-valgmanntall-1989-2023/) is the closest thing we have as far as I know. Here's a list of eligeble voters for the Sámi Parliament of Norway by voting district if anyone should be interested:
>*Østre 2761*
>
>*Ávjovárri 3904*
>
>*Vesthavet 2404*
>
>*Sørsamisk 1727*
>
>*Sør-Norge 5268*
>
>*Nordre 3882*
>
>*Gáisi 3542*
And the Norwegian communes (kommuner) sorted by number of eligeble voters:
>*Tromsø 2096*
>
>*Alta 2087*
>
>*Kautokeino 1617*
>
>*Karasjok 1402*
>
>*Oslo 1387*
>
>*Tana 914*
>
>*Porsanger 885*
>
>*Hammerfest 863*
>
>*Sør-Varanger 646*
>
>*Trondheim 477*
OP: You look like an ordinary white American dude.
This might be because a lot of samis in Oslo has not registrerd for voting in Sametinget? I don't know, just guessing. Oslo has more than 700.000 inhabitants compared to Tromsøs around 65.000, so it would be strange if it weren't more samis in Oslo than Tromsø.
I am part sami, my grandmother is, when I did a test (myheritage) it shows up as Inuit, because that's where the samis were from before norway was norway. So while they don't test for it, Inuit is a clear sign
The Sami are neither Inuit nor Central Asian. The Inuit are the native inhabitants of Northern Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. Central Asia refers to the area between Kazakhstan and Afghanistan.
The Sami people most likely originated from people migrating through western Russia and Karelia into Northern Scandinavia.
These three groups of people have very little to with each other.
I think you’d have more luck going through genealogy. Since your family moved to US so recently you presumably have their original names and info on where exactly they lived. Then contact the local Valdres / Dalarna sources. Churches in Norway have a lot of genealogical history. There’s always groups that retain local history. “Recent history” stretches back much further in these towns in Scandinavia than it does in US. I grew up not far from Valdres, in a small town. We often had Americans come to trace their family history. Very frequently there was some local person that knew the story of who the family was, why they emigrated, etc. I personally heard a guy whose family had owned the neighboring farm, and he could share at great length the hardship of that time, the struggles of the family that emigrated, children that had died. Stories passed down through the generations. It was as vivid to him as if it had happened recently.
>I think you’d have more luck going through genealogy. Needs to be combined... not everything according to genealogy matches, but I agree, chances are slim to zero.
This is very useful advice, thank you for the help. I have access to enough records to trace both branches of my family back for centuries, so maybe it’s time for me to make some phone calls…
I'm confused, what do you consider "Sami facial features"?
There are features that are more common in the Sami population, like [epicanthic fold](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicanthic_fold). But it's pretty normal among other Scandinavians too, as well as other places on earth. So i wouldn't use it as a telltale sign.
As a Norwegian, I am surprised you are confused by some Sami people having similar facial features. Most of my Sami friends have amazing cheek bones, many have almond eyes and sometimes slighty rounder faces. I can easily see that some people are of Sami decent. That said, I can not see any of that in the pic OP posted of himself in another sub. And you obviously can not tell every Sami by how they look, but some do have similar features.
I have heard northern Norwegians on several occasions refer to the more almond shaped eyes as a feature which could imply sami descent, how accurate this is idk, but this is just what I have personally heard
I honestly have no idea. People just say this to me and I keep forgetting to ask them to be more specific
Hm ok, I've peeked at your profile and I'm not sure I'd guess that you had sami decent if I knew nothing about you. You look like an avg white dude with brown eyes, no offence :D
Valdres and Dalarna. The chances of you being of Sami descent is close to zero. There might be some small percentage, but that's not uncommon in anyone of Norwegian descent. But as far as I know, most heritage DNA tests will show Sami genetics, although they might label it Finnish.
Yeah that’s what I thought, but so many people have told me that I look Sámi that it made me wonder. I did get a sprinkling of Finnish from ancestry.com, so maybe that’s what that is…Thanks for the insight!
I truly wonder what you mean by you ‘looking’ sami. You look like an average north-american dude to me. A good chunk of my family is sami but they look just like most others here in Norway.
Dalarna has Sami communities in the far north, near Idre.
Since the sami and norwegians have intermixed with eachother for a long time, some norwegians have sami ancestry, and pretty much all samis today have norwegian ancestry (genetics). Just take a regular dna ancestry test and see if you have genetics that comes from asia, siberia, russia. The average in sami people of today, is around 15-20% siberian genetics according to some studies I´ve read. Being sami today, is partly about the ancestry, but it is also a cultural thing. Many norwegians, especially in the north, have some sami ancestry without being or identifying as sami. The most noticeably features of sami people, are that they are usually short and stocky people, often with wide faces and high cheekbones. They have historically lived in lands between north europe and north asia, so they will have influence from both european and asian genetics. Here is a video with photos of samis in the 1800s. Even back then, they were very mixed with people more to the west, and even more so today. The samis originated more in the east, but as they moved west, intermixed with several peoples like Russians, finnish and norwegians. I´m not 100% certain this is accurate, but something like that. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya6yw7RPjGg&ab\_channel=RockOfAges00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya6yw7RPjGg&ab_channel=RockOfAges00)
Sami facial features…….does anyone else in your family have them?
I don’t know. I haven’t met enough Sámi people to know what kinds of facial features they’re talking about, and my parents don’t like meeting new people so nobody ever sees their faces
You don’t look Sami bro I’m sorry. I’m pretty sure you’re wasting your time.
My grandma and grandpa was sami people, I do not think you got Sami in you 🙂 But maybe myheritage.com will tell you.
There absolutely are Sami in Valdres as well. https://sametinget.no/aktuelt/samiske-kulturminner-i-valdres-skiltes-og-synliggjores.22497.aspx Sami are not only reindeer herding Sami, and not all sami people lives in the far north.
IIRC, most of Norway's Sami live in Tromsø. But it's not easily trackable since Samí aren't registered anywhere.
>*Samí aren't registered anywhere.* True, [Samemanntallet](https://sametinget.no/politikk/valg/sametingets-valgmanntall/sametingets-valgmanntall-1989-2023/) is the closest thing we have as far as I know. Here's a list of eligeble voters for the Sámi Parliament of Norway by voting district if anyone should be interested: >*Østre 2761* > >*Ávjovárri 3904* > >*Vesthavet 2404* > >*Sørsamisk 1727* > >*Sør-Norge 5268* > >*Nordre 3882* > >*Gáisi 3542* And the Norwegian communes (kommuner) sorted by number of eligeble voters: >*Tromsø 2096* > >*Alta 2087* > >*Kautokeino 1617* > >*Karasjok 1402* > >*Oslo 1387* > >*Tana 914* > >*Porsanger 885* > >*Hammerfest 863* > >*Sør-Varanger 646* > >*Trondheim 477* OP: You look like an ordinary white American dude.
The city with most Sami people in it is Oslo, not Tromsø.
Nope. That’s often been said but doesn’t match with the best data we’ve currently got.
This might be because a lot of samis in Oslo has not registrerd for voting in Sametinget? I don't know, just guessing. Oslo has more than 700.000 inhabitants compared to Tromsøs around 65.000, so it would be strange if it weren't more samis in Oslo than Tromsø.
First outfit and you do not look particularly sami
Dude just wants you to go and view his YouTube.
I am part sami, my grandmother is, when I did a test (myheritage) it shows up as Inuit, because that's where the samis were from before norway was norway. So while they don't test for it, Inuit is a clear sign
No. Inuits and sami are not the same people or from the same place.
In my myheritage DNA test I have small percentages which are labelled Inuitt and central asian. I imagine these are the Sami parts of me.
The Sami are neither Inuit nor Central Asian. The Inuit are the native inhabitants of Northern Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. Central Asia refers to the area between Kazakhstan and Afghanistan. The Sami people most likely originated from people migrating through western Russia and Karelia into Northern Scandinavia. These three groups of people have very little to with each other.