Case file · Folklore / legend
Thomas von Westen's mission and the drum seizures
From 1716, the Norwegian priest Thomas von Westen led a mission among the Sámi, collecting drums and recording beliefs as part of a campaign to end their religion.
1716 CE · 63.43, 10.39 · status: official
The account
Many drums were sent to Copenhagen; some were lost in the 1728 fire. Missionary notes from this period are, painfully, among the main written sources on Sámi religion.