The case in summary:
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- Sami Odd Levi Paulsen feels uncomfortable using the term “the Sami’s national day” due to negative reactions.
- Paulsen believes that many have too narrow a definition of the word “nation”, and that it can also be used to describe the Sami’s common culture across national borders.
- The use of “the Sami’s national day” has increased in the last ten years, according to the Language Council.
- The Language Council supports the use of “Sámi national day” as the best translation of the Northern Sámi “álbmotbeaivi”.
- Paulsen wants to use the word “nation” without being corrected or silenced, and believes it is time for the debate to be put to rest.
- A report from Amnesty International Norway in 2023 showed that Sami people are being harassed in social media.
The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by NRK’s journalists before publication.
The Sami’s national day is celebrated every year.
The celebration is a joint celebration for all Sámi in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.
Odd Levi Paulsen from Hamarøy celebrates the day with friends in Tromsø with great joy.
But there is something he finds difficult about the day.
Paulsen would like to say “Sámi national day” about 6 February, without it tying in the stomach.
Why does it bind?
The name of the day has people raging on social media.
Paulsen himself has experienced negative reactions when he says “the Sami’s national day”.
– I am afraid that some Norwegians may perceive it as a threat.
Will not be hushed up
Although both the Sámi national day and the Sámi people’s day can be used on 6 February, Paulsen wants to use the word “nation” without getting glares, being corrected or hushed up.
– It is very common for a comment to be made if you write about the Sámi’s national day, whereas when you write about the Sámi people’s day, no one says anything.
Odd Levi Paulsen encourages public actors in particular to adopt the Sami’s national day. He believes people must become more aware of what the word nation means.
Photo: Birgit Andresen / NRK
Hamarøyværing suspects that people have too narrow a definition of the word nation.
– We have grown up with, and become so used to interpreting nation as if it is the state of Norway that we are talking about. That is correct, but you can also call 6 February a “national day”.
Why?
Nation also means a group of people who share the same language and culture, according to Large Norwegian encyclopedia.
– Norwegians are such a group. So are the Sami. It’s that simple, says Paulsen.
The Prime Minister: – Referred to as such in the flag regulations
Odd Levi Paulsen encourages public actors in particular to adopt “the Sami’s national day”.
Former prime minister, Erna Solberg, did so in her speech on 6 February 2021.
But since then, no prime minister has used the term in his mouth. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has consistently used “Sámi people’s day”.
– We must increase knowledge about the Sami and the Sami culture, and we must work together to break down prejudices, says Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. He himself consistently uses “the Sami people’s day”.
Photo: Alf Simensen / NRK
– The government and I use “Sámi people’s day” because the day is referred to as such in the flag regulations, says Støre to NRK.
The prime minister says that it was the Bondevik 2 government that gave the official flag day the name “Same people’s day”.
– What do you think about the fact that more Sámi experience negative comments and attitudes when they say “the Sámi’s national day”?
– No one should be exposed to incitement and harassment. I am confident that people will find out for themselves how they refer to this day.
What do you say? The Sami’s national day, or the Sami people’s day?
Sami national day Sami people’s day
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He adds that 6 February is an important day that is about identity and belonging.
In 2023, a report came out from Amnesty International Norway which showed that Sami people are being harassed in social media.
– We all have a shared responsibility to speak up if someone is subjected to comments, incitement or attitudes that are unacceptable, says the Prime Minister.
Increased attention
During the last decade, the celebration has received increased attention, says the Language Council.
– As far as the use of words is concerned, also has Sami national day went into use during this period, and in 2023 was Sami national day more used in Norwegian newspapers than the Sami people’s national day.
This is what department director for the Language Council Daniel Gusfre Ims writes in an e-mail to NRK
– We expect that it is the possible meaning of “state” that makes some people perceive it as problematic to talk about a Sami nation, says Daniel Gusfre Ims, head of section in the Language Council.
Photo: Moment Studio
But what is the right thing to say?
You can use both the Sami national day and the Sami people’s day on 6 February. The Language Council itself uses the Sámi’s national day, says Ims.
– There is a lot because the Sámi Parliament wants it, but also because we agree with the argument that National Day in modern Norwegian will be the best translation of Northern Sami dreaming, although ledda separately means “people(s)” and “day”.
– Lead-heavy luggage from the Norwegian occupation
Sami Parliament President Silje Karine Muotka says that the Sami Parliament has decided that 6 February is “the Sami’s national day”. Nevertheless, the discussion flares up every year in social media.
– I think we should be able to refer to the national day as the national day in 2024.
– The discussion about the Sami national day is a recurring theme. We have to cheer each other on, meet, celebrate and celebrate, says Sámi Parliament President Silje Karine Muotka.
Photo: Dan Robert Larsen / NRK
– What does it do to you when people think it is wrong to call it National Day?
– I guess it’s really about the look on the others. We attribute to each other motives and intentions that are not there.
The President of the Sami Parliament believes that people in Northern Norway therefore have to build more trust in each other.
Sámeflávddat, Sami flag.
Photo: Dan Robert Larsen / NRK
– We can only solve this through a public conversation and that we get to know each other better. As soon as we think about us and them, and assume that someone means something, we have to have that conversation.
– I think we have with us a heavy load of baggage from the Norwegianization.
She hopes it won’t take long before it is completely unproblematic to call the day a national day, but she reflects quite a bit on the fact that it takes time.
For Paulsen in Hamarøy, it is important to use the national day because it binds the Sami together.
– For us Sami, “national” is an important term as we feel a strong sense of belonging to the Sami in Sweden, Finland and Russia. I have relatives in Sweden, so it is particularly important for us to feel together through such an important concept as “national day”.
Explanation of the Sami flag