Our Finnish BBQ huts (or Grillikotas) have their origin in Lapland where the nomadic Sami reindeer herds people lived in them. These early huts were covered in Reindeer hides, the solid wooden BBQ huts are the modern derivative.
Samis are "people without country" living in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Kola Peninsula in Russia. The Sami people have inhabited the northern regions of Fenno-Scandinavia and Russia for at least 2500 years. Since the Sami are the earliest of the contemporary ethnic groups represented in the area, they are consequently considered an indigenous population of the area.
Traditionally they have been living of reindeer hearding, but today tourism is a big part of not just Samis life, but all citizens living beyond the Arctic circle. Sami people have strong cultural history and they are famous of their stunning handicrafts... using reindeer leather, hide, antler... and of course, they are known of their "stuorra nibas", leuku knives...
