Siida Museum

Log cabins, huts capped with tufts of grass, and beautiful artwork and artifacts are only a sample of the treasures held within this Arctic museum. Its year-round and seasonal exhibits offer an intriguing, immersive look at the Sámi people who call the region home. 

The Siida Museum is a collaboration between the Northern Lapland Nature Centre and Sámi Museum. Its captivating exhibits highlight the deep, intrinsic connection the Sámi culture maintains with nature.

Inside, a range of imagery, artifacts, and audio entices visitors to explore the past and present of this Northern culture. Exhibits detailing the region’s environment and natural history are intertwined with those that delve into Sámi culture. Sections examining the drastic seasonal changes that sweep across the Arctic landscape blend with those recounting how people manage to survive within such extreme climates.

There’s also an open-air museum, open only during the summer months when the ever-present daylight lends its glow to the land. It resembles an eclectic village, where log buildings stand near lodges, tents, and huts. Particularly noteworthy are the grass-covered gold prospector’s cabin and peat-covered log hut, which look as though they’d be perfectly at home within a forest fairytale. Some of the buildings were relocated to the museum when it opened in 1960. Don’t be surprised if you see a reindeer or two roaming around.