Over the past two days I've posted about the problems with Vitamin D deficiency that can crop up at high latitudes because of low UV levels. In Civilization Felix Fernandez-Armesto quotes a source stating about the Sami of Finland:
...They are blow-legged from rickets....
The argument I made earlier was that the Sami did not become very light because selective pressure was far weaker upon them than upon the Finns to their south. But this anecdote suggests that rickets is a problem for the Sami. What gives? A little searching led me to this story about the Inuit of Canada:
But as the Arctic has changed, so have eating habits. While seal and char are still staples in Nunavut's isolated communities, walrus and whale consumption have been in decline for 30 years. The result is vitamin D deficiency, which surfaces as rickets, a disease most Canadians might be surprised to hear still exists in Canada. Thirty-one new cases of rickets were discovered in the first five years of Nunavut's creation.
So that might explain the Sami cases of rickets, a transition from their traditional diet to a more "modern" one. Step away from the ruisleipä now!
Comments
Are the Sami actually darker-skinned than the Finns? If they are, the difference is very small. Certainly, the Sami are lighter than most Europeans. In Finland, at least, I think they are predominantly blue/grey-eyed, too, like most people. However, they tend to have dark brown hair.
Pics of a few well-known Finnish Samis:
http://www.seurujarvi.fi/index.php?name=Content&nodeIDX=208 (Janne Seurujärvi, the first Sami in Finnish parliament, looks German to me)
http://www.minaigi.no/image/04102006_Nett3.jpg (Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, artist)
http://www.imdb.com/gallery/granitz/1578/Events/1578/AnniChrist_Vespa_620684_400.jpg.html?hint=group (Anni-Kristiina Juuso, actress)
Also, I'm suspicious of the claim of rickets in the Sami. In the past that was probably true, but if it was still occurring it would have been addressed.
Posted by: jl | July 10, 2007 7:00 AM