The non-Scandinavians out there might look at the title of the Nordic Heritage Museum’s new exhibit, “The Eight Seasons in Sapmi, The Land of the Sami People,” and ask, “What is Sapmi, and who are the Sami people?”

Of course, that is exactly what the exhibit, which opens up to the public this Friday, is here to help people understand. The exhibition is a collaborative effort between Danish-American photographer Bigitte Aarestrup; Ajtte, the Swedish Mountain and Sami Museum; and Sami Duodji, the Sami Handicraft. The event also features items and traditional Sami clothing from Nordic Heritage Museum’s own private collection.

As for Sapmi, a poem that can be found at the exhibit helps explain:

“We call our land Sapmi,
It is not a state, it has no marked borders,
But it is our home.
Sapmi means both the land and the people.
We are part of this earth and the soil is part of us.”

The land “Sapmi” that is referred to encompasses a broad region in Scandinavia which the Sami, a traditionally nomadic people, live and travel around in based on the “eight seasons.” It includes Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia. The Sami are an indigenous people whose roots can be traced up to 8,000 years ago to a hunting, fishing, gathering and then reindeer husbandry culture. (Reindeer became a vital part of Sami culture, providing not only food, but also material for tools and clothes.)

As for the eight seasons, they are winter, winter-spring, spring, spring-summer, summer, summer-fall, fall, and fall-winter. Under each period of time, the Sami people will undertake a different action or lifestyle and may move to a different area.

The Nordic Heritage Museum exhibit hopes to help educate people about this culture, as well as provide a link for Sami-Americans, by providing different perspectives. By using the photos taken by Aarestrup taken during her journey with the Sami, the exhibit presents a more contemporary, outsider perspective of Sami culture.

“Aarestrup’s photographs capture her experiences when she lived with the Sami reindeer herders, listened to their stories around the fire in their traditional kata tents, taveled to the 400-year-old Winter Market, and visited the homes of well-known artisans still creating arts and crafts in the way of their ancestors,” Nordic Heritage Museum spokeswoman Erin Schadt said.

Another aspect of the exhibit is the collection of Sami handicrafts, called duodji, which presents a more physical and material sense of what Sami culture is about. In several display cases, people may see leather pouches and bags, a weaver’s reed, a milk bowl, a knife, a salt container, and many other original items created by artists to represent what the Sami people use.

The Nordic Heritage Museum’s own collection features traditional clothing -- now usually only worn during public events such as wedding ceremonies and political functions -- and souveneirs like toy dolls created by tourist companies.

Chief Curator Lizette Gradon said that the most important part of the exhibit is to present several different perspectives in order to get the fullest understanding of the culture. Indeed, the exhibit engages museum-goers through different forms of photography, the more physical handicrafts, several pieces of poetry and brief stories to go along with pictures, audio of nature sounds and traditional Sami singing, called “Joik,” and a viewing of the documentary, “Suddenly Sami.”

In conjunction with the exhibit, the Nordic Heritage Museum is also hosting several events. There are still three events left to attend:

Wednesday, Sept. 26: Lecture, “The night is not so long that the day never comes.” How to read a Sami wooden cup, with Troy Storfjell

Thursday, Oct. 11: Lecture, “An Account of the Sami: 100 years later, with Thomas DuBois

Tuesday, Oct. 23: Film Screening: Suddenly Sami