Sami traditional medicine and complementary and alternative medicine - a descriptive study of use within the Sami population of Sweden

Traditional medicine has been practised for millennia in the Sami population, based on a Sami worldview and cosmology, which includes natural remedies, prayers, drums and yoik singing. During the Christianisation of the Sami during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, these practices were condemned. In recent years, however, a revival of Sami culture has occurred and so has the practice of Sami traditional medicine (STM) and the use of complementary alternative medicine (CAM). The aim of this study is to map the prevalence and use of STM and CAM among Sami in Sweden today. The study population consisted of 3641 Sami from the whole of Sweden, who had participated in the population-based cross-sectional survey Sami Health on Equal Terms (SamiHET) in 2021. Our results show that women are more prone to use both STM and CAM than men and that younger persons are more likely to use STM and CAM than elderly persons. STM is more often used in the northern parts of Sapmi compared to the southern parts as well as a lower use of CAM in the north. This might be due to the stronger Sami identity and easier access to traditional Sami healers/helpers in the north as well as limited access to CAM services