Saami- Buvrie and Gåetie

At the Saami settlement of “Finnhøttan” in Lennamarka, just north of Namsos, there were several buildings in the beginning of the 1900s; derhviegåetie (turf hut), buvrie (storage) for food storage, gåetieh for animal husbandry etc.

In 1934 Namdalsmuseet were given charge of the buvrie and the smallest derhviegåetie from the settlement. Saami Anders Nursfjell and his family lived in this settlement for many years. Anders Johnsen Nursfjell was called “Finn-Anders” by locals. The family would travel and live according to the grazing of their reindeer, spending their winters around Otterøya/Vemundvik and their summers in Ekornfjellet/Saltfjellet.

Anders lived in “Finnhøttan” until 1929, when he moved to live with his son Nils in Verdal. The settlement was then left unoccupied.

The buvrie was deconstructed in 1934 and transported to the Namdals-exhibit in Namsos, with Oddmund Havik taking charge of the work performed. Oddmund Havik was the one who had it arranged. It was also arranged for the students of the older classes in Namsos to help with the conservation effort. Oddmund Havik also arranged for the reconstruction of the building on the exhibition site.

When the exhibition was over, the buvrie was moved to Namdalsmuseet.

The building is constructed from light lumber, utilizing the log building technique and raised onto four naturally grown rooted logs. The roof is constructed from uncut wooden boards laid slanted and covered with bark and split logs. Entry was made using a homemade ladder with steps chopped into a wooden log. The building was primarily used for the storage of food and miscellaneous artefacts.

The gåetie that was relocated from “Finnhøttan” was lent out to Georg Moe from Grong. He intended to exhibit it at the Oslo-exhibition “Vi Kan” in 1938, with the intention of Moe bringing it back and having it erected at Namdalsmuseet.

The gåetie that can be found at the museum today is of more recent make. The previous one rotted away and had to be refurbished. Namdalsmuseet contracted Saami Axel Toven from Botnan in Vemundvik to assist in this. The new turf hut was finished in 1978.

The gåetie is constructed utilizing otnerassh, powerful load-bearing logs, internally. These are dressed in deakehkh, pole panelling. The exterior is coated with bark and turf. In the middle of the gåetie there is aernie, a fireplace. Ventilation is achieved through a duct in the back wall near the floor and a chute in the ceiling. The dirt floor is covered with birch branches and reindeer pelts. The floor coverings were routinely replaced, as they had to be fresh.