Siida — the word means "settlement" or "community" in the Inari Sámi language — is one of the best ethnographic museums in Finland and unquestionably the most important place to understand Sámi culture from a Finnish perspective. The permanent exhibition is split between a Sámi-culture gallery (history, language, religion, the year of the herder) and a natural-history gallery covering the ecology of the Arctic forest, fells, and lakes.
The building, on the lakeshore north of the village, is itself impressive — modern Finnish architecture in larch and grass-covered roofs that echo traditional Sámi turf huts. An open-air section behind the main building holds reconstructed log buildings and storage huts. Allow at least three hours. Closed Mondays in winter; open daily in summer.