One of the departments of the regional Museum of the city of Murmansk became the Museum of history, culture and life of the Lapps. The Museum was founded in 1962 in the small village of Lovozero on the firm basis of a secondary school geography teacher Yuriev Paul Polikarpovich. The Museum was created with the purpose of full preservation of historical and cultural development of the indigenous population of the Kola Peninsula – the sámi people.

Lovozero village is the administrative center of the Lovozero district and was the second largest village, after the village of Revda. According to the 2002 census, the population of Lovozero is 3412 resident. The settlement was founded in 1574 on the site of a previously existing settlement Saami. In the chronicle sources, the first mention of the village belong to 1608. The hotel is located on the banks of the shallow river wyrm, near Lovozero. The village became the cultural center of life of the Saami. Here are the various sámi festivals and holidays, including international.

The sámi people are the Western people, who came from small indigenous peoples of the Russian North. The number of Saami reaches 1, 9 thousand, 1, 6 thousand representatives of whom live on the Kola Peninsula, belonging to the Murmansk region. The Saami people live in some Northern parts of Finland, Norway and Sweden, while their total number is 80 thousand people.

Everything is presented in the Museum exhibits explain in detail about the historical development of the sámi people and their cultural life. Existing to this day the Museum exposition consists of the following sections: "Ancient history of the development of the Sami people", "Development of the Lovozero region during the 1920-1930-ies", "Rear to the front. The events of the great Patriotic War of 1941-1945", "Cultural and economic development of the district over the years 1950-1980", "Development of a traditional economy of the people of Saami reindeer herding", "living conditions and supplies of numerically small peoples of the Kola Peninsula".

The Museum has a rich collection, which is entirely devoted to cultural and everyday the small peoples of the Kola Peninsula. Also here extensively presents archaeological finds from different time periods. It should be noted that in use of the Museum is special and unique stone, on which there are rock paintings. The stone was delivered to the Museum in 1988 from the famous centre of the Kola Peninsula, namely from an old place called chalmni-WARRE, on the territory of which passes the middle reaches of the river is full.

In the Museum exhibition can carefully consider the ethnographic exhibits a variety of household items, models of ancient dwellings, clothing, items of applied art of the peoples of the Kola North, tools, as well as a diorama, equipped with a reindeer team. In addition, there are Tupou, part – huts in which lived earlier sámi in the cold season, the tower is a small accommodation, situated on the ground fisheries in the warmer months and Kovacs – special portable tent which can be seen today in the summer on the tundra reindeer pastures.

All of the Museum exhibition presents 665 items of the main Fund and 141 subjects research Fund. Especially well fit into the Museum space photos, prints and documents relating to various periods and time intervals. Here, one can learn about the history and development of the region, starting with the most distant ancient times until today, and buy small Souvenirs that are made for the guests of the Museum, local craftsmen from the fur of a deer, and traditional decorations Sami clothing, beautifully embroidered with seed beads.

With regard to the activities of the sámi people to date, approximately 13% of the Saami is involved, as in ancient times, the reindeer, the rest of the population works in the areas of service, education and culture.