Neiden is a village area in the Sápmi area along the Finland–Norway border with about 250 inhabitants. Neiden, situated along the Neiden River, actually consists of two villages separated by the border of Norway and Finland. One side is in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway and the other side is in Inari Municipality in Lapland, Finland. Neiden is the official name in Norway and Näätämö in Finland. The European route E6 highway runs through the Norwegian village of Neiden. In Finnish view Neiden/Näätämö extends into Finland, and there is a small village in Finland near the border called Näätämö, with border shops, around 12 km from Neiden village centre.
History
Neiden became the main settlement of the westernmost Njauddâm sijdd of the Skolts and has remained relatively unchanged, leaving numerous traces of earlier use of the area intact. Neiden was governmentally divided officially in 1852. The reason for that separation was the demarcation treaty between the Kingdom of Sweden-Norway and the Grand Duchy of Finland, which prohibited nomadic reindeer herding and moving of fishermen over the border. That caused much harm to reindeer husbandry for a long time.
World War Two
On 26 and 27 October 1944 around two hundred soldiers were killed.
The Skolts form a minority group among the Sami and are distinct from other groups in a number of ways. The Russian culture has had a strong influence on the Skolts, who adopted Christianity in its Eastern Orthodox form in the 16th century. The Skolt Sami language is highly endangered and not spoken actively in Neiden today. Almost all speakers live in Finland. The Ä'vv Skolt Sami Museum, situated in Neiden, officially opened in June 2016. A Skolt Sami tradition maintained until today is the so-called Käpälä-fishing of salmon with a cast net.
Protected area
The protected area in Skoltebyen includes a number of different monuments, some of which are old enough to be automatically protected under the Cultural Heritage Act. These include a Russian Orthodox graveyard, the ruins of a smoke sauna, sixteen sites of traditional turf huts known as gammer and a tiny Russian Orthodox chapel, St. Georg's Chapel, build 1565 by Tryphon of Pechenga. In addition, many of the natural features of the area have been and are being used in religious ceremonies, such as baptism. The formal protection of the settlement was carried out in order to safeguard its historical and religious importance as well as the integrity of the landscape. This is the most important cultural heritage site for the Skolts and their surviving culture in Norway. The protection order was issued to prevent the area from being developed in a way that would reduce its significance and cultural value, while at the same time encouraging use that will communicate, maintain and develop the Skolt culture. The protection order does not affect the commercial salmon fishing in the Neiden River nor other commercial activities in the area.
