Abstract
Drawing on interviews and autobiographic writings by Sámi, this article examines the construction of an ethnic category, the Sámi as an embodied phenomenon. The article investigates what creates the ethnic difference between the Sámi and the majority populations since many modern Sámi are not always very different from the majority. By applying the theory of performativity, the article concludes that the ethnic boundary of the Sámi is an embodied question. People who are born Sámi are Sámi by the expected particularity of their body, which can appear as outward appearance and/or mental characteristics. Their Sáminess can also take the form of ‘Sámi DNA’. Being a cultural Sámi is possible, natural, permitted and desirable for a person who is born Sámi. One’s origin is thus a performative which both enables and naturalizes an individual’s Sámi ethnicity. It produces a Sámi body by naturalizing certain bodily qualities as well as a certain cultural identity.
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