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Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) belongs to the Vaccinium genus, which includes blueberries (Vaccinium spp.) and cranberry (V. macrocarpon). Unlike its cultivated relatives, bilberry remains largely undomesticated, with berry harvesting almost entirely from the wild. As such, it represents an ideal target for genomic analysis, providing comparisons with the domesticated Vaccinium species. Bilberry is prized for its taste and health properties and has provided essential nutrition for Northern European indigenous populations. It contains high concentrations of phytonutrients, with perhaps the most important being the purple colored anthocyanins, found in both skin and flesh. Here, we present the first bilberry genome assembly, comprising 12 pseudochromosomes assembled using Oxford Nanopore (ONT) and Hi‐C Technologies. The pseudochromosomes represent 96.6% complete BUSCO genes with an assessed LAI score of 16.3, showing a high conservation of synteny against the blueberry genome. Kmer analysis showed an unusual third peak, indicating the sequenced samples may have been from two individuals. The alternate alleles were purged so that the final assembly represents only one haplotype. A total of 36,404 genes were annotated after nearly 48% of the assembly was masked to remove repeats. To illustrate the genome quality, we describe the complex MYBA locus, and identify the key regulating MYB genes that determine anthocyanin production. The new bilberry genome builds on the genomic resources and knowledge of Vaccinium species, to help understand the genetics underpinning some of the quality attributes that breeding programs aspire to improve. The high conservation of synteny between bilberry and blueberry genomes means that comparative genome mapping can be applied to transfer knowledge about marker‐trait association between these two species, as the loci involved in key characters are orthologous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the role of laughter and humour in transcultural encounters in Finnish Lapland during the early 20th century. The period was marked by political and cultural tensions that escalated, for example, into two world wars. In Lapland, the Sámi had to face racial prejudice, for example during the 1920s and 1930s. The sources used for the article are the Lapland memoirs of a Finnish teacher Hilja Vartiainen and a district nurse Saimi Lindroth and other such egodocuments dealing with the writers' experiences of cultural encounters. By studying laughter and humour it is also possible to study serious features of different societies. Humour and laughter have been forms of using power. It was possible for the Sámi to intervene in the course of events, for example in district court sessions, by laughing at the right place. Sometimes laughter was offensive and wounding from the Sámi point of view, for example in situations where Finnish visitors did not know the Sámi culture well enough. However, based on the source material, smiling and laughing have often managed to strengthen cohesion in transcultural encounters, especially in situations where visitors who tried to become acquainted with the Sámi culture dared to laugh at themselves. Laughing and humour eased many tensions of transcultural encounters in Finnish Lapland during the first half of the 20th century. At the same time, it increased people's well-being, as laughing itself was considered healthy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the modernization of northern Finnish food culture, especially in 17th- and 18th-century urban Oulu, by applying the methods of archaeology and history research. During the 17th century, the food culture was still quite conservative. Coffee, sugar, wheat flour, and fruit began entering the diet of affluent northern Finnish people from the 18th century onwards. The food culture of Oulu inhabitants is studied by comparing dental material retrieved from Oulu Cathedral graveyard to data obtained from historical document sources. A comparison point to the early modern bone material of Oulu is provided by late Middle Ages material from Ii, which lies north of Oulu on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia. Carbohydrate consumption is related to many dental conditions, such as caries and calculus, which can be traced in archaeological human skeletal remains. The diets of males and females, as well as the diets of adults and children, are compared, in order to retrieve information on the emerging consumption of sugar in different groups, such as gender and age groups. The relationship between carbohydrate consumption and class identity in northern Finland is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The settlements in the area that currently comprises Eastern Finnish Lapland (Utsjoki, Inari and Sompio, which is now within Sodankylä municipality) were for hundreds of years the target of destructive attacks by the surrounding people groups. This took place during the period when the national borders in the northern regions were not yet fixed, a period which lasted until the 17th century. This article examines how the Sámi people living in the area remembered the destruction wrought among them, and what kind of consequences these memories have had. The primary source material are the stories of persecution gathered in Lapland. In the stories, the enemies come to rob and to destroy, and the victims of the attack try to flee. Sometimes the victims are killed, and sometimes the enemy is warded off. In Sámi stories, the enemies from elsewhere are sometimes called Chudehs (čuđeh), sometimes 'Russian intruders'. The Sámi preserved in their folklore this information about the destruction caused by different people groups, passing it on orally from generation to generation, and these stories became for them important tools for building their group identity. The Sámi's experiences, and the memories of violent events were significant for the sense of belonging among the Sámi communities, even though the stories themselves could be rather vague in their historical information. This vagueness is shown in the fact that the exact same types of stories are repeated in different regions and among different people groups. Influences from Europe-wide stories are evident: for example, the Sámi story Lavrukâš contains the same themes as those seen in the stories connected with William Tell. The story from Utsjoki of how their enemies burned their ancestors' wooden church is repeated in almost the same form in Swedish Lapland. From one century to the next, the memory of violent invaders remained strong among the Sámi, and for this reason they sought, even in the 19th century, as harmonious a coexistence as possible with the Finnish authorities. These people, who had lived continually in a fearful atmosphere, desired above all to be able to live in peace in their homes without being disturbed. Taxes were readily paid, and regulations affecting daily life were observed, just as long as it they would not longer have to flee to the forests for safety. The stories collected from the Sámi speak of the anxiety and oppression caused by the persecution. In 2015 in Sweden, research began into why there is so much anxiety and depression among Sámi people. One reason for this could be the often-considered polar night and resulting lack of sunlight. But could some of this anxiety also be welling up from the fear experienced over the centuries, passed on in stories from one generation to the next? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All priests active in the parish of Utsjoki in 19th century Finland had moved there from southern Finland. While working in Lapland, they attempted to imprint their native Finnish culture among the Sami and recorded details of life in the Sami culture into written form. In addition to interpretations made by priests, there are very few sources of information on the lives of Sami women, inhabitants of a non-literate culture. 19th century Sami women were hard-working, earning respect from the priests, who embraced a Lutheran work morality. Sami men, however, were found somewhat less industrious. The fact that Sami men worked mostly outside the home, and, on the other hand, that the priests observed the lives of the Sami especially inside the home, resulted in an image of hard-working women in the minds of the priests. The priests also admired their skills in handicraft, even though its methods and products differed from what the priests had become accustomed to in Finland. Sami girls were raised from very young to be able to fulfil the role set for women by their communities. The social status of a Sami woman in Utsjoki, however, varied according to whether she belonged to the reindeer-herding Sami or the fisher Sami, or whether she was perhaps a servant, and if she was single or married. Despite heavy workload in families and difficulties involved in attempts to deviate from the gender role, the rather strict distribution of work does not necessarily have to be understood as a limiting factor in the lives of Sami women. They held an acknowledged position in their communities, and womenfolk of the reindeer-herding Sami especially were often also financially independent due to their inherited reindeer stock. On the other hand, gender equality was not among the most pressing of issues from the point of view of the 19th century Sami eking out their livelihoods in a semi-arctic region. Although the gender roles were very restricting, they also complemented each other. In a subsistence-barter community supporting itself in a close relationship with nature, sharing the workload between all members of community was essential. Men and women needed to have clearly defined roles in order to enable each member of community to know his or her tasks and complete them in time. Although women's sphere of living was significantly smaller in comparison with what was considered men's domain, they wielded considerable power in the home, and rarely hesitated to use it. The Sami women of the past have been marginalised in a number of ways. Both women and the Sami in general were considered a topic of minor interest for serious study of history, and the histories of 19th-century Sami are by and large histories of Sami men. The invisibility of the Sami women is particularly noticeable in church records and documents from official authorities. The sources most often used by historians are from the spheres of administration, state and economic authorities - areas of life where women of the time had very little influence. Unofficial private sources, such as diaries and memoirs, contain some limited information on their lives, but even there the Sami women rarely appear using their own names. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]