Rana Niejta and Rana Niejte are variant forms of the Ume Sami name of a goddess in Sami mythology. In Northern Sami she is called Rana Neida and Rana Neide (names in other Sami languages are Rana Nieda, Ruona Neida, Radien-neide and Blende).
Rana Niejta is the goddess for spring and fertility. The literal translation of the name Rana is «the green» or «the green, fertile fields». The name Rana Niejta can freely be translated as «the daughter of earth». According to Sami mythology, it was she who made the southern slopes of the mountains green, so that the hungry reindeer would have enough food.
The Finnish linguist Otto Donner described in his translation of Sámi poems into German and Finnish in 1876 how Sala Niejta "daughter of the Sun", Rana Niejta and Saivo Niejta "daughter of the underworld" often were mentioned together in sami poetry, and sometimes were confused with each other by outsiders without personal knowledge of Sámi mythology:However, older sources from 1700 clearly shows that they are three different goddesses. Sala Niejta had the power to end the snow and the cold, while Rana Niejta made it possible for trees and herbs to grow and flourish anew every year.[1] Rana Niejta thus represents the recreation of the spring.
The Samis considered the Sun as Sala Niejta and Rana Niejta were two different goddesses, which, together with
Some also consider her name as the origin of the name of the municipality of Rana in Norway.
In 1971, a bronze statue depicting Rana-Niejta was raised in the park beneath the shopping centre LA Meyer in Mo i Rana. The statue was made by the artist Arne Durban, and financed by Den Norske Bank (DNB, «The Norwegian Bank») in 1970 in connection with its 25-years anniversary. It was delivered to Rana municipality on November 19, 1970. In 2003, a similar statue was moved from DNB to Nordlandsbanken («Bank of Nordland») in Rana after the process of amalgamating the two banks.