Sapmi is the name of the area inhabited by the
Sami people. It is located in northern Fennoscandia and a part of 4 countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. The
Sami were victims of assimilation in each of the countries Sapmi is divided by, and it didn'
t really stop until the late 1980's, especially in Norway. It is unknown when the
Sami arrived in their homeland, but it is known that they were there long before the Norwegians, Finnish, Swedish and Russian people arrived. It is generally believed that the
Sami came from Asia, but this have been proved wrong in modern times. The
Sami are getting more and more autonomy, and have their own parliaments in Sweden, Finland and Norway. The language is a part of the Finno-Ugric languages. Today, herding reindeers is a big part of the culture, but less than 1 out of 25 of every
Sami are associated with reindeer herding. In Norway, most of the
Sami lives in the innland parts the province of Finnmark, but the coastal
Sami used to be the largest
Sami group but their majority ended due to the Norwegianization. It is unknown how many
Sami there is in Sapmi, since there is no statistics about it. The only sources are the Sami parliaments, but those are not good sources. The Sami are often called Lapps, but this is considered derogatory.
John: Hey, Tore Mathis, aren'
t you Norwegian, since you live in Norway?
Tore: No, I am a
Sami, and I do not consider myself to be Norwegian.
Some words in the
Sami language (northern dialect) "Sámieatnan sámiide!" Meaning: Samiland (Sapmi) for the Sami!
