The relationships and interactions between animals and nature are part of what makes a place special
Many of our sacred places are based on observing the earth and how nature functions in different places, both flora and fauna. The interactions in nature are always meaningful.
As a result, sacred places can be quite large or expansive. We try to understand areas where many elements coexist. Similarly, we also try to understand areas that are not functioning. The answers to these questions and the resulting knowledge can be important, depending on the weather and the season. The things that happen in an area, and even different types of formations, can be attributed to the presence of various deities. The area may even be sacred, such as an inherited mountain where saajvh (ancestors) assist with reindeer husbandry, hunting, fishing, or foraging.
Reindeer’s movements in an area tell us something
The way a reindeer passes through an area is always meaningful. A place where it stops to rest of its own accord is called lovvebahke, or lovvesjimmiepluevie if the area is a mire. Which mountainsides do the reindeer stop along of their own accord during their migrations? Where does they stop a little longer to roam and graze during the height of summer? Which passages do they choose, and which ones do they avoid? Where do the reindeer stand during different types of wind and weather conditions? Where are calves born? These behaviors are all fundamental knowledge for a reindeer herder.
Many places, such as where reindeer calves, human infants and other animals are born, are connected with our matriarchal view of the world, Mother Earth, and fertility. Words containing the phrase “aahka”, such as Aahkabiejlieh or Aahkajaevrie, can also have such a connotation. Most well-known outside of our Sami culture is that we have had sacred mountains and that they are a part of a wider continuum.