Eldritch
04-23-2010, 09:17 AM
http://www.helsinkitimes.fi/htimes/images/2010/apr/145/sami.jpg
For Sami youths, language is the core of Sami identity and culture.
Reetta Poikela, 16, may not seem like a typical young Sami, but that is exactly what she is: she lives in Rovaniemi, her mother tongue is Finnish, and she considers herself a Sami.
“I’m learning Sami and attend celebrations in Lapland indigenous dress,” she says, citing the most visible aspects of her culture. But Sami identity is also a subjective matter.
“I’m proud of it.”
This week Poikela took part in an arts event for Sami youths organised in her hometown, Rovaniemi. This year marked the first time that the annual event was held outside of the traditional Sami region. One of the aims was to encourage children and young people living in Rovaniemi to learn the Sami language.
For Reetta Poikela, the language was a kind of spiritual gate to the event, which takes place in Sami. She began her studies in Sami last autumn following a break. Lessons begun in primary school were cut short for practical reasons: Poikela had to travel to another school for the sake of a few hours of lessons each week.
At the arts event Poikela performed the song Oabbá (Sister), which represents a new genre of light Sami-language music.
“It’s good to know what I’m singing about.”
Studies in Sami are largely an emotional matter for her.
“I feel more Sami now that I can speak the language,” she says.
Hit Finnish song recreated in Skolt Sami
Reetta Poikela feels that by participating in the arts event, she is herself creating Sami culture. Sami youth today are quite eager to help develop their own culture.
The latest contribution to Skolt Sami culture by the students of Sevettijärvi school in Inari is a Sami-language rendition of the hit single Lautturi by Finnish pop group PMMP. With the help of their teachers, the students came up with Skolt Sami words for the song. Skolt Sami is one of three Sami languages spoken within Finland’s borders.
“It was definitely fun and we learnt new things from the teacher, too,” say students Anna-Katariina Feodoroff and Leena Fofonoff.
In Aaro Fofonoff’s view, the language is the core of Sami culture. He takes Skolt Sami as his mother tongue at school, but when speaking with friends he uses Finnish.
For the students, speaking Skolt Sami during intervals between classes, for example, would simply feel unnatural.
“Maybe it will begin to feel natural in some years’ time,” Leena Fofonoff ponders.
Link. (http://www.helsinkitimes.fi/htimes/lifestyle-and-entertainment/10639-young-sami-eager-to-breathe-new-life-into-culture-.html)
For Sami youths, language is the core of Sami identity and culture.
Reetta Poikela, 16, may not seem like a typical young Sami, but that is exactly what she is: she lives in Rovaniemi, her mother tongue is Finnish, and she considers herself a Sami.
“I’m learning Sami and attend celebrations in Lapland indigenous dress,” she says, citing the most visible aspects of her culture. But Sami identity is also a subjective matter.
“I’m proud of it.”
This week Poikela took part in an arts event for Sami youths organised in her hometown, Rovaniemi. This year marked the first time that the annual event was held outside of the traditional Sami region. One of the aims was to encourage children and young people living in Rovaniemi to learn the Sami language.
For Reetta Poikela, the language was a kind of spiritual gate to the event, which takes place in Sami. She began her studies in Sami last autumn following a break. Lessons begun in primary school were cut short for practical reasons: Poikela had to travel to another school for the sake of a few hours of lessons each week.
At the arts event Poikela performed the song Oabbá (Sister), which represents a new genre of light Sami-language music.
“It’s good to know what I’m singing about.”
Studies in Sami are largely an emotional matter for her.
“I feel more Sami now that I can speak the language,” she says.
Hit Finnish song recreated in Skolt Sami
Reetta Poikela feels that by participating in the arts event, she is herself creating Sami culture. Sami youth today are quite eager to help develop their own culture.
The latest contribution to Skolt Sami culture by the students of Sevettijärvi school in Inari is a Sami-language rendition of the hit single Lautturi by Finnish pop group PMMP. With the help of their teachers, the students came up with Skolt Sami words for the song. Skolt Sami is one of three Sami languages spoken within Finland’s borders.
“It was definitely fun and we learnt new things from the teacher, too,” say students Anna-Katariina Feodoroff and Leena Fofonoff.
In Aaro Fofonoff’s view, the language is the core of Sami culture. He takes Skolt Sami as his mother tongue at school, but when speaking with friends he uses Finnish.
For the students, speaking Skolt Sami during intervals between classes, for example, would simply feel unnatural.
“Maybe it will begin to feel natural in some years’ time,” Leena Fofonoff ponders.
Link. (http://www.helsinkitimes.fi/htimes/lifestyle-and-entertainment/10639-young-sami-eager-to-breathe-new-life-into-culture-.html)