Bourre beaivi ! – Welcome !
The term Sami (/Saami or Sámi) refers to a cultural group in northern Norway, Sweden and Finland, as well as, Russia’s Kola Peninsula.
Noted as Europe’s ‘only indigenous people’ the Sami are known for their reindeer herding, nomadic nature, colourful clothing and lack of a single nation state (Gouverneur, 2017).
The Sami have faced territorial issues and debates from as early as the 15th century, most of which have been driven by the nation states in which they reside (Olsson and Lewis, 1991). As minority population, the Sami have faced centuries of suppression and assimilation, thus resulting in their dwindling numbers. However, in the rise of the digital age, Sami culture is no longer restricted by its geographical confines. Many of those with ancestral links to the Sami have dispersed all over the world, including London. London can be viewed as melting pot of various cultures even those which are ‘endangered’.
As such, we hope our webpages will be able to provide insight into Sami culture to allow one of the lesser known European identities to be not only acknowledged, but understood.
Citations:
Gouverneur, C. (2017). Europe’s only indigenous people. Le Monde Diplomatique.
Olsson, S and Lewis, D (1991). Welfare rules and indigenous rights: the Sami people and the Nordic welfare states. IN: Dixon, J. and Scheurell, R. (1995). Social welfare with indigenous peoples. 1st ed. London: Routledge.
European London 