Our encounter with a white reindeer on Ratan Island in Västerbotten County is a poignant reminder of the deep connection between the Sámi people and their land.
The 1952 Finnish film The White Reindeer (Valkoinen peura) is a haunting folk horror tale set in the snowbound landscapes of Finland. Directed by Erik Blomberg and co-written with his wife, Mirjami Kuosmanen—who also stars in the lead role—the film delves into themes of isolation, desire, and the supernatural. It draws heavily from pre-Christian Finnish mythology and Sámi shamanistic traditions, portraying the transformation of a young woman into a white reindeer vampire after seeking magical assistance to rekindle her husband's affections.
However, it is important to acknowledge that The White Reindeer reflects the colonial attitudes prevalent at the time. The portrayal of the Sámi as mystical and otherworldly continues a pattern of exoticization and marginalisation of Indigenous cultures, which was common in Nordic cinema. Like many films of the era, it presents Sámi traditions in broad strokes rather than in nuanced detail.
Sámi people were rarely involved in the filmmaking process, so the story was shaped largely by Finnish filmmakers’ perspectives and folklore interpretations rather than by Sámi voices themselves. This results in a portrayal that mixes authentic cultural elements with cinematic fantasy, reflecting both fascination with and exoticization of Sámi life in mid-20th-century Nordic cinema.
Our encounter with a white reindeer on Ratan Island also reminds us that the Sámi’s connection to the land is not just history or myth—it is lived reality. The Sámi continue to face challenges to their land rights and cultural preservation, often from state-backed development projects. Agreements between Sámi reindeer herders and commercial developers in Sweden have been found to be generally harmful, leading to land dispossession, obstructed migration routes, and cultural loss (theguardian.com).
These contemporary struggles echo the colonial attitudes reflected in The White Reindeer. While the film draws on Sámi myths and traditions, it does so through a Finnish cinematic lens that often exoticizes and marginalizes Sámi culture. This pattern of representation continues in modern media and policy, where Sámi voices are frequently sidelined.
As Gabriel Kuhn notes in Liberating Sápmi: Indigenous Resistance in Europe’s Far North, the Sámi have shown incredible resilience, defending their identity and territories and retaining an important social and ecological voice—even if many, progressives and leftists included, refuse to listen. This ongoing resistance is mirrored in the haunting narrative of The White Reindeer, where the Sámi-inspired figure of the white reindeer moves between worlds—symbolically asserting presence, power, and autonomy despite forces that would control or silence it.