Sámi  National Day 2023

February 6, 2023

Sámi Heritage and Culture

Download Carolyn Thauberger’s presentation–

Sami Culture for UBC 2021 updated 2023

The Sámi flag above is one of the two official flags of Norway. Sámi  people have established a strong political presence in Norway which now recognizes this Sámi flag as one of the country’s two official flags. They are flown together on state occasions, the Sámi flag beneath the Norwegian one. Designed by Astrid Båhl, the red part of the circle symbolises the sun, the blue part the moon. The colours red, blue, green and yellow reflect the Sámi national costume. Green symbolises nature, blue water, red fire and yellow the sun. The Sámi call themselves “The people of the sun”.

Sámi people call their home territories “Sapmi”. These lands lie across the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Russian Kola Peninsula. There are 100,000 Indigenous inhabitants in this area. Ancestors of the present-day Sámi have inhabited the area since the birth of Christ and likely much longer. At least 30,000 people of Sámi ancestry live in North America.

The Sámi are a people with a rich and powerful culture one they have held for thousands of years. They are noted for their skill in living successfully in a cold environment and for their cooperative and peaceful social connections (at least before the deliberate introduction of alcohol by politicians wanting to control the Sámi lands and gather taxes from a weakened population). Some believe Sámi people may even have come to the Sapmi areas just after the last Ice Age left 10,000 years ago. Archeological evidence is limited for a nomadic people but studies of language and culture seem to support this. Considering their success there is likely much we can learn from the Sámi about living in a northern climate and about peaceful social organization.