FUG meets the Sami people

FUG (Norway) had a meeting in the northern part of Norway in Kautokeino which is one of the two largest villages of Sami people on 10-11^th March.  We met the Sami government and other Sami institutions. FUG represents all parents in Norway and is interested in knowing more about the special challenges faced my certain groups. We experienced that the challenges in most Sami areas were the same as they are for any other Norwegian parent. One of the special challenges is to have enough books and other means of instruction in their own language. There are not enough qualified authors and translators to meet the demands. There is now a special Sami University College in Kautokeino to educate Sami teachers for school and kindergarten. This will help to get enough qualified teachers for the Sami children.

(The Sami people, also spelled Sámi or Saami, are the indigenous Finno-Ugric people inhabiting the Arctic area of Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are the only indigenous people of Scandinavia recognized and protected under the international conventions of indigenous peoples, and hence the northernmost indigenous people of Europe.^[7] Sami ancestral lands span an area of approximately 388,350 km² (150,000 sq. mi.), which is approximately the size of Norway, in the Nordic countries. Their traditional languages are the Sami languages and are classified as a branch of the Uralic language family.

Traditionally, the Sami have pursued a variety of livelihoods, including coastal fishing, fur trapping, and sheep herding. Their best-known means of livelihood is semi-nomadic reindeer herding. Currently about 10% of the Sami are connected to reindeer herding and 2,800 are actively involved in herding on a full-time basis.^[8] For traditional, environmental, cultural and political reasons, reindeer herding is legally reserved only for Sami people in certain regions of the Nordic countries.

Source: Wikipedia)