Today we celebrate the Sami National Day. The indigenous Sami people have a long and complicated history in Sweden. Photographer Joel Marklund gives us three personal stories from people with Sami background. | Sweden.se

The Sami people, also spelled Sámi or Saami, are the Arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway... Their traditional language is the Sami language and is classified as a branch of the Uralic- Turanian language family. | Great Spirit of Turan

The Sámi people of the Arctic have a timeless bond with reindeer. Not just as a source of food or clothing, but as the heart of their identity. For centuries, reindeer herding has shaped their rhythm of life, traditions, and worldview. The reindeer give them meat, hides, antlers and valuable materials for tools and clothes; they also guide seasonal migrations and connect them deeply with the land. But above all, it’s a relation built on respect and symbiosis: the Sámi take care of the reindeer,