The Sámi presence in Gammelstad and the lower river valley is reconstructed through court records, household strategies examinations and matrimonial records. As recently as the mid-19th century, many in the population could speak Sámi, Finnish or Swedish. We can also trace the collective memory regarding Sámi settlements in villages such as Rutvik, Alvik and Måttsund. There are place names there such as Lappgärdan as a topographical reminder of Sámi who lived there. The book also sheds new light on the early Finnish-speaking population in the coastal area. From the history of the 20th th century there are accounts of how Finnish war children in all haste had to leave Finland that was in the throes of a war with the Soviet Union. The first war children arrived in 1942 and were boarded out to families. Some of them remained even after the war.