The name Skellefteå is recorded to having been spelled as
Skelepht in 1327. On
Carta marina the name is spelt
Skellitta. The origin of the name remains unknown, but is assumed to be of Sami origin. From the 14th century on, attempts were made to Christianize Skellefteå. A parish was formed and a church built. However, for the most part, the entire large Northern Swedish territory of
Norrland was not Christianized until several hundred years after the rest of Sweden, and many northern areas such as Skellefteå remained unexplored well past the Middle Ages. Not before the very end of the 17th century did the indigenous
Sami people of Northern Sweden begin turning to Christianity, much due to the efforts by the Northern Swedish superintendent
Mathias Steuchius, who worked hard to accomplish this. Several
Sami shamans were killed for this reason. Eventually, the reason for the sudden awakened interest towards Skellefteälven and the surrounding areas was the great northern fishing grounds of
salmon. The actual city of Skellefteå is one of the youngest cities of Norrland. It was founded in 1845 by the vicar Nils Nordlander. ==Economy==