Green Island and Yellow Kayaker at Sunset, Finland

Afloat in Finland

Popular on rivers, lakes, and seas all over the globe, kayaks originated with the seal-hunting Indigenous peoples of Greenland and northern Canada. While we're a good ways from the fjords and floes of the Arctic Ocean, this kayaker is exploring a region also noted for its hardy, cold-ready folk. Known as Sápmi, the northernmost region of Finland is home to the Sámi people, who historically fished the waters here at Lake Inari. Among the more than 3,000 islands on the lake, a few host ancient Sámi cultural sites, including a major burial ground and a stone islet thought to have been used for sacrifices.