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About
the Sami
The Sami (also spelled Saami) are the 100,000 Indigenous
inhabitants of Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Russian Kola Peninsula.
Their history parallels that of other Indigenous circumpolar Peoples.
After a 500-year period of colonization by Norway and Sweden during
which the Sami nature religion, the Sami language, and the Sami
joik were forbidden, the Sami people in the Nordic countries are
experiencing a rebirth of their ancestral belief system, language
and cultural expressions. Concern for the environment has lead
them to become active in international Indigenous organizations
including NGO (non-governmental organization) status in the UN. |