ABSTRACT
Kautokeino borders on Karasjok to the east, on Enontekis and Inari in Finland to the south, on Troms to the west, and on Alta to the north. It coversan area of 3,742 square miles and is the largest and most sparsely populated district in Norway. According to the census lists of 1553, only fourteen Sames with their families lived within the present Kautokeino. Multiplied by six this makes a total population of eighty-four individuals. The prestige acquired by owning reindeer is more highly valued than perhaps in any other Same community in Finnmark, and it has thereby contributed towards the preservation of both reindeer herding and the Samish cultural pattern. In any event, it is perfectly clear that the sii’dâ of the sixteenth century in many respects had a different character from that of modern times. About 1550, there were within the present Kautokeino district only two sii’dâs, each af them having a definite territory within which the people migrated.
