• Author / Uploaded
• Anca Erena

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• Pueblo Sami, los samis
• Etnicidad
• Pueblos indígenas
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SAMI- The indigenous people When talking about minorities we deal with four types: national minorities, ethnic minorities, nations without a state and, last but not least, indigenous people. A very precise definition of indigenous people is given by Jose R. Martinez Cobo. According to Cobo, the indigenous communities, people and nationals are those that while having a historical continuity with preinvasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories, still consider themselves distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing on those territories or parts of them. In other words, indigenous people are the part of minorities that has preserved their old traditions and are passing those traditions to the next generations. In Europe the only indigenous people alive are the Sami people that can be found

in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. This minority has its own language and culture. The number of Sami people varies from 60,000 to 100,000 depending on the method of calculation, but the largest group of them are in Norway. The Sami are the descendants of a people who inhabited Northern Fennoscandia just after the Ice Age some 10,000 years ago. Ethnically, however, we can talk about the Sami only after the Sami language was born, no later than the 2nd millennium BC. Because of the Artic Area theylive in, their daily concerns include reindeer husbandry and fishing. They have a strong bond with the nature for which they have a great respect. Nature has been the source of both the material and spiritual culture of the Sami and the community of people has put its "cultural mark" on this natural environment. Aurora Borealis and the midnight sun are some of the spectacular wonders that Sami people have the chance to witness. In Sami country they have not four, but eight seasons, divided depending on the changes in nature during the year: winter, late winter, spring, late spring, summer, late summer, autumn and late autumn. About Sami politics, agreements were made as early as the 1200s and 1300s, that decided to divide the Sami by borders. The first clear border in the North was defined by the Teusina Peace Treaty of 1595. After that, the borders between Sweden and Russia divided the Sami between eastern and western cultural influences. In 1751 the Treaty of Strömstad included a special codicil that recognized the old Sami rights, for example the right to cross state borders. But things have changed during the last years. Nowadays Sami have their own flag, seven official flag-raising days, and a national holiday on February the 6th which commemorates the first Nordic Sami conference in 1917. With the begining of the 70’s young and educated Sami tried to create a bridge

between their traditions and the present; between the old outlook on life and the influence of the modern society. This quickly gave rise to new forms of participation such as, new forms of Sami politics, Sami media, and Sami art. To be considered a Sami one has to regard himself as a Sami and has learned Sami as his native language, or has at least one parent or grandparent who has done so. What is crucial is the family background, the relationship to the Sami language and through it to the culture, and the feeling that one is Sami. The Sami word refers to the view the Sami have of themselves as members of a culture wich is different from the dominant one. They used to be called „Lapp” by outsiders, term that was considered too offensive by Sami. In the old literature on the Sami we find several names for the Sami, such as Forest Sami, Mountain Sami, River Sami, and Eastern Sami, each of those names refering to a particular group of Sami population. From the ten Sami languages, those speaking North Sami dialects are the largest linguistic group. About Sami religion, according to the traditional Sami religion, the world was permeated by spirits. Humans could only be successful in making their living if they cooperated with the natural forces. It was important not to damage nature, as that would have meant interfering with God´s work. But the spreading of a technical-industrial culture to the land of the Sami has created many problems. The building of hydro-electric power plants, mining, and recreation and conservation are competing with the ways of using nature. This is why the future of the land of Sami is linked with the issue of who owns the lands and waters of the North. According to the Sami, the balance between people and nature can only be returned by going back to the original knowledge that the old Sami way of life relied on. Even though they kept their own traditions, the Sami had realised they need an arrangement in order to cooperate better between those four contries they live in. This is why the Samediggi, The Sami Parliament, was created. It is an independent political organ and is the highest representative body of the Sami in Norway. The Samediggi has 43 representatives (increased in 2005 from 39) elected by and amongst Sami every fourth year. The Sami people tried to be as independent and indigenous as they could, but they finally had to settle in world’s order, so they had to set rights and obligations for others, for the outsiders to respect their family, culture and beliefs. They now have children rights, Sami youth organizations, Sami institutions, and many other important “modern traditions”. The Sami people can be summarized in few words. Even though they are so different because of their spread, multiple languages and dialects, they are still the same; they are one people in four countries.

Anca Erena