Sami Four Winds Hat

The basis is a simple blue cylinder and is decorated with a band with braid patterns. The top is a large, four-cornered star, colored bright blue with parts bright yellow and red. The decoration in an actual Sami hat is, like the rest of the Sami clothing, indicative of a person’s place of origin, clan, or marital status.

The hat is four-cornered to represent the four corners of the earth, which the early Sami believed to be square. Traditionally, the hat was blue to represent the sky and had red, yellow, or white trim. The corners were stuffed with down to allow the hat to keep its shape. Small items also could be stored in the corners of the hat.

Made in the early 2000s of manufactured wool cloth and assorted cotton braids; lined with white cotton (including a drawstring to make the lining tight and more protective); and edged with manufactured “fur.”

This represents an adaptation of tradition to modern materials. In older times, the Sami would have used natural materials or manufactured trade cloth, possibly obtained at the Jokkmokk’s Market.

This four winds hat is from the Eleanor Edman Sami collection, 2013.