This paper seeks to provide a better understanding of the supposed connection between Parish Sami and the little researched stone remnants of grouse trapping, i.e. bird mazes, that show a spatial concentration to Västernorrland and Gävleborg counties - by using spatial analysis, historical-ethnographical analogies, folklore studies and two case studies. The results are contradicting; the spatial analysis shows no or little signs of a connection between remains of Sami type and place names indicating Sami presence. The analogies show a likeness between methods where sticks and branches were used instead of stones to create the fences which lead the birds to the snare-traps. However, these methods were used by both Swedish farmers and Sami. There are several folklore records that connect Sami and the bird mazes, and one tells of how the Sami taught the parish inhabitants the method. The case studies show an apparent spatial connection between bird mazes and a Parish Sami home and a nomadic Forest Sami complex. Nomadic Forest Sami in the region have been shown to be the ancestors of Parish Sami. Based on these results, the author proposes that the bird maze method was first used by Forest Sami and later used by their descendants Parish Sami, but somewhere along the way the method was taught to or picked up by Swedish farmers. In any case, this study might be used as a jumping off point for the further work and research into the physical remains of Sami in the region that are well needed, in particular the Parish Sami, but also bird mazes.

Abstract  In 1924 an investigation into the poor relief of the Saamis in Sweden was conducted. Thus, non-reindeer herding Saamis came into the lime-light for the first time. Previous research has focused on reindeer-herding Saamis in the sense that they were “the true Saamis”. Instead, the aim of this thesis, is to disclose how the non-reindeer herding Saamis were constructed by using a discourse analysis approach. It includes those called Parish Lapps, found in thirty replies to a questionnaire of the Nordic Museum in Sweden conducted in 1945. The bias presented there included the magic abilities of the Saamis. The findings illustrate that these notions, as well as the official discourse, influenced the communal discourse. Other bias exist in Swedish society today, and previous special rights of reindeer-herding is brought to the fore onto the political agenda, leaving the non-reindeer herding Saamis, and their history, on the margins. The non-reindeer herding Saamis were depicted as “the other”, not fully included in the “true Saami” way of living, always in exclusion to the Swedish residential manner.