Sami herdsmen and reindeer in Woodland Park, Seattle, 1898

In 1892, the United States government started bringing reindeer from Siberia into Alaska as a new food source for the native peoples. In 1898, the government brought in Norwegian reindeer, along with Sami herdsmen and their families. They stopped in Seattle to wait for a ship to Alaska. Some Sami remained in Alaska, while others eventually returned to Seattle or home to Norway. The Sami were formerly called Lapplanders. In this 1898 photo, taken by the Edward S. Curtis firm at Woodland Park, Sami herders from Norway stand with a group of reindeer. Original photo copied by Asahel Curtis. Caption on image (obscured): Curtis. Caption on border: Asahel Curtis, Commercial Photographer, 625 Colman Block, Seattle. Handwritten on mount: Reindeer on drive to Alaska - at Woodland Park. Caption by MOHAI staff. *Subjects (LCTGM): Reindeer--Washington (State)--Seattle; Parks--Washington (State)--Seattle; Gates--Washington (State)--Seattle; Sami (European people)

Date

1898

Archive

Wikimedia Commons

Type

photograph

Original size

640 × 482 pixels

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