80 Rudolph’s Rugged Relatives

Where do you find the country of Lapland on the map? You don’t. Lapland is not a separate country. It is just a large area north of the Arctic where the Lapp people live. They live in sections that belong to Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. The Lapps have no government of their own. They are governed by the country in whose area they live. These countries have respect for the Lapps’ unique culture. They leave them to develop very much on their own lines.

Lapland is a bleak, barren region. The birches, pines, and firs that somehow survive are thin, bent by the wind, and stunted. The cold is intense and the growing season is very short. For three months, the sun never rises. For another three months, the sun never sets. About 34,000 people live in the region. The people look somewhat like Chinese or Japanese. The average height is about five feet. However, they are strong and muscular.

Lapps originally came from east of the Urals in Russia. The Finns followed them. Being more advanced, they forced the Lapps farther and farther north. The Lapps found safety and peace in the icy northern wastes. In their own language they call themselves “the banished”.

Lapp survival is tied entirely to a thick growth of mosses and lichens. The Lapps do not eat this growth. But reindeer do. They get strong and fat on this “grass” of the far north. The entire village folds its reindeer-skin tents and follows the northward track. As winter approaches and the snows begin, the herds stop, turn, and slowly head south. The village follows the herd. This cycle has been repeated for thousands of years. Will it be repeated for yet thousands more?

80 鲁道夫的坚韧亲属

你在地图上哪里能找到拉普兰这个国家？找不到。拉普兰不是一个独立的国家，它只是北极以北的一大片区域，拉普人居住在那里。他们居住的区域分属挪威、瑞典、芬兰和俄罗斯。拉普人没有自己的政府，由他们所居住区域的国家管理。这些国家尊重拉普人独特的文化，让他们在很大程度上按照自己的方式发展。

拉普兰是一片荒凉贫瘠的地区。勉强存活的桦树、松树和冷杉都很纤细，被风吹得弯曲，生长得很矮。这里寒冷刺骨，生长季非常短。有三个月时间太阳从不升起，还有另外三个月太阳从不落下。大约有3.4万人居住在这个地区。这里的人看起来有点像中国人或日本人，平均身高约五英尺。不过，他们身体强壮，肌肉发达。

拉普人最初来自俄罗斯的乌拉尔山脉以东，芬兰人追随他们而来。由于芬兰人更先进，他们迫使拉普人不断向北迁移。拉普人在冰封的北方荒原中找到了安全与和平，在他们自己的语言中，他们称自己为“被放逐者”。

拉普人的生存完全依赖于茂密的苔藓和地衣。拉普人不吃这些植物，但驯鹿吃。驯鹿靠这片北方的“草”变得强壮且肥胖。整个村庄会收起驯鹿皮帐篷，追随驯鹿向北迁徙。随着冬季临近，降雪开始，鹿群停下、转向，缓慢向南行进，村庄也跟着鹿群移动。这个循环已经重复了数千年，还会再重复数千年吗？