The Beliefs and Practices of Peter Armstrand, Sámi Drum Maker and Healer and the Expressions of Sámi Religion in a Contemporary Setting

In the midst of a revival of Sámi shamanism, the work of different practitioners is slowly becoming more visible throughout northern Fennoscandia, which is where engagement with the work of Peter Armstrand is encountered within a ritual landscape setting deep in Sápmi, the Sámi homeland area in northern Sweden. Armstrand’s beliefs and practices are what characterise his work as a healer and ritual-ceremonial specialist and drum maker, which are all abilities that have been well known much earlier among noaidi the religious specialist in Sámi culture from the seventeenth century when Sámi pre-Christian religion underwent harsh and forceful changes due to missionizing and conversion of the Sámi people to Christianity. This new research presents a number of cultural expressions in relation to the making of Sámi religion in a contemporary context which is encountered through the practices of offering, healing, ritual landscapes, drum making and decoration.