Demography of colonisation and the ageing population: population profiles and mortality in Swedish Sápmi, 1750–1900

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper examines population trends, age-specific death rates and causes of death for the elderly Sami and settlers during the colonisation era (between 1750 and 1900). The source material is a set of data files from the Demographic Data Base (DDB) at Umeå University that covers parish records from three different parishes. Early in the colonisation period (1750–1840) the Sami had a lower proportion of the elderly population (⩾60 years old), compared to the non-Sami and the rest of Sweden. At the end of the colonisation period (1841–1900), the proportion of elderly Sami increased and was above the proportion of elderly non-Sami and more similar to the rest of Sweden. The analysis also reveals that the differences in mortality rates among the elderly Sami and their non-Sami counterparts diminished during the entire colonisation era (1750–1900), mainly because of an increased infant mortality among the non-Sami. Rather than ethnic differences in causes of death, the results show larger differences between the parishes. The study can conclude that the Sami population's mortality declined, the health improved, and the Sami advanced more rapidly in the model of epidemiologic transition, a milestone not yet reached by other indigenous people around the world.