Ukonkivi, is located on the island of Ukonsaari in lake Inari

Lake Inari

Lake Inari is the third largest lake in Finland and the largest lake in Sápmi. It is located in the northern part of Lapland, north of the Arctic Circle. The lake is 117–119 meters above sea level and it is regulated at the Kaitakoski power plant in Russia...

, Finnish Lapland. The Inari Sami

Inari Sami

Inari Sámi is a Uralic, Sami language spoken by the Inari Sami of Finland. It has approximately 300 speakers, the majority of whom are middle-aged or older and live in the municipality of Inari. According to the Sami Parliament of Finland 269 persons used Inari Sami as their first language. It is...

 name for the island is Äijih. The area of the lake is called Ukonselkä. Ukonkivi was used by the Sami people

Sami people

The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...

 as a holy sacrificial place, perhaps as recently as the 19th century. The name "Ukko

Ukko

In Finnish mythology, Ukko, in Estonian mythology Uku, is a god of sky, weather, crops and other natural things. He is the most significant god in Finnish and Estonian mythologies, and created the goddess Ilmatar, creator of the world. The Finnish word ukkonen, thunderstorm, is derived from his...

" refers to the ancient thunder god of Finnish mythology

Finnish mythology

Finnish mythology is the mythology that went with Finnish paganism which was practised by the Finnish people prior to Christianisation. It has many features shared with fellow Finnic Estonian mythology and its non-Finnic neighbours, the Balts and the Scandinavians...

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The island is about 30 metres high, 50 metres broad and its length is about 100 metres. The distance from the village of Inari

Inari (village)

Inari is a population centre in the municipality of Inari in Finland.-History:The village grew up along in a spot where the fast-flowing Juutua River empties into Lake Inari. As the centuries went by, the village developed into a robust and active market and trade centre...

 to Ukonkivi is about 11 kilometres. There are guided tours to the site during the summer from the harbour of the Sami museum Siida

Siida

The siida is a Sami local community that has existed from time immemorial. A siida , or a "reindeer pastoralistic district," is a Sami reindeer foraging area, a group for reindeer herding and a corporation working for the economic benefit of its members...

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One of the most important archaeological findings in Lapland was made on Ukonsaari island. A silver jewelry fragment was found in 1873 by the British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans in the sacrificial cave on the island.

The names of some of the many islands adjacent to Ukonsaari may suggest other religious sites, for example;

• Palo Ukko (meaning Fire of Ukko)
• Pikku Ukko (Little Ukko)
• Ukonkarit (Ukko's Rock, an islet close to Ukonsaari)
• Hautuumaasaari (Burial ground Island)
• Aviosaaret (Marriage Islands)
• Tissikivisaari (Breast-Stone Island)
• Junttisaari (Lad Island) - juntti is a complex word somehow meaning a juvenile yet adolescent male
• Vanha Hautuumaasaari (Old Burial ground Island)
• Ristisalmensaaret (Cross Sound Islands)