Primitivisation

In tourism, primitivisation emphasises and, thereby, reinforces the image of an indigenous people following lifestyle bound to the past. In other words, primitivisation supports a museumified, unchanging image of the Sámi community as being stuck in the past, untouched by modern life and untainted by civilisation. Primitivisation creates an image of an ‘untouched’ and, therefore, ‘authentic’ people, or ‘noble savages’, that is, a relic from a bygone age. When emphasising the spiritual heritage and mythical past of the Sámi people in tourism, it primitivises the Sámi, supports and reinforces the wrong stereotypes and incorrect representations that bear no resemblance to modern reality. Primitivisation as represented in tourism prevents Sámi and Sámi culture from being the living and dynamic modern culture that it is. Instead, the image created through primitivisation imprisons the Sámi to their mystical past.