The Arctic University Museum of Norway (Tromsø Museum) has two Sami exhibitions. "The Sami culture" tells about the cultural traditions of Sami, "Sápmi - becoming a nation" describes the cultural and political awakening among Sami in Norway after 1945.

 

It is no coincidence that Tromsø Museum has two Sami exhibitions. The museum built a new exhibition (Sápmi) as the old one mainly presented Sami material culture of the past – particularly that of reindeer herding – and Sami Cultural traditions as timeless and unchanging.

The Sápmi-exhibition addresses the Sami reality of today. It presents the emergence of a modern indigenous movement and is intended as a contribution to the present Sami-political debate in Norway.

Consequently, Tromsø Museum has two highly different representations of Sami culture, made in two highly different phases in the history of the Sami people and the museum. One focuses on artefacts and the past, the other on cultural change and present political processes. Thus, visitors have the opportunity to compare the two exhibitions as different representations of Sami culture.