Theme: Indigenous Peoples

A person holding a phone where the frontpage of the Nuohtti service is open. Photo: Matilda Kalving.

The Nuohtti service provides digital access to Sámi material in European archives

16.3.2023 15:32

The Nuohtti digital service provides access to a wide range of archive material on Sámi cultural heritage. Nuohtti contains 30,000 documents and photos from the Sámi area gathered from 32 European archives, libraries, and museums. The service responds especially to the need and right of the Sámi to get information about themselves and their people. Launched in February, the service has been developed by a multidisciplinary Nordic project led by the Faculty of Art and Design at the University of Lapland.

University of Lapland is doing background research for certificate criteria for Saami tourism businesses

15.12.2022 9:45

The Multidimensional Tourism Institute has started a project, in which thorough background research will be completed before making certification criteria to help recognize holistically sustainable Saami tourism businesses in Finland. The project is funded by Lapland ELY Centre and executed in co-operation with the Saami Parliament of Finland.

New Book in Sámi Studies Illuminates the Diversity of Sámi Worlds

26.8.2022 9:09

A major contribution to Sámi Studies, The Sámi World presents a diversity of research topics from across Sápmi, providing rich and multifaceted understandings of Sámi worlds. The book has been edited by Sanna Valkonen, Professor of Sámi Research, and researchers Áile Aikio, Saara Alakorva and Sigga-Marja Magga from the University of Lapland. Written in English, the book is arranged around Áilu Valle’s rap lyrics.

Dissertation: The journey of floral bead styles from 1500s France to 1800s Yukon First Nations

20.4.2022 11:45

Dr. Ukjese van Kampen traces in his doctoral dissertation the origins of the floral bead styles that his people from the south-central Yukon adopted in the mid-1800s. The Yukon First Nations people had an established floral embroidery tradition already before Europeans entered the area in the end of the 19th century. However, the floral designs were not indigenous but adopted through a centuries-long process. The dissertation gives new insights into the spread of floral designs originating in 1500s France and migrating westwards across Canada to the Yukon.

Doctoral dissertation: Knowledge Integration in Co-management: A Study on the People of the Mount Cameroon National Park

22.2.2022 8:30

Ayonghe Akonwi Nebasifu, M.A., studies in his dissertation the unequal power relations between officials and local people in the co-management of the Mount Cameroon National Park and its adjacent communities. Ayonghe’s work contributes to co-management theory by revealing simultaneous compliance with and opposition to various relations of power in which people use official and unofficial strategies to attain their goals within a system of resource management.

Pigga Keskitalo and Tuija Hautala-Hirvioja Invited to a New Arctic Humanities Series’ Editorial Board

20.12.2021 10:00

Professor Tuija Hautala-Hirvioja and University Researcher Pigga Keskitalo from the University of Lapland have been invited to the Editorial Board of “Arctic Humanities” published by Brill.

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Online course “Arctic Inclusive Education” on spring term 2022 – registration is now open!

13.12.2021 9:00

The 10 ECTS course is developed in collaboration with the Arctic Five universities and it will be held for the second time on spring term 2022.

University of Lapland renews commitment to host the UArctic International Secretariat long term

25.10.2021 15:10

The University of Lapland and UArctic ry (UArctic Association registered in Finland) signed a new cooperation agreement on October 8, 2021. The new agreement creates a stable home for the UArctic International Secretariat, with the intent of continued, long-term hosting by the University of Lapland. The UArctic International Secretariat is the only permanent Arctic secretariat in Finland.

Sámi cultural heritage search service name selected by international competition

31.5.2021 11:45

The Sámi archive materials can soon be searched through a new digital search service. The name for the new search service, Nuohtti, was chosen through an international competition, where the public were invited to present suggestions.

New book on indigenous research methodologies

3.5.2021 10:29

"Indigenous Research Methodologies in Sámi and Global Contexts" addresses history, concepts and practice of indigenous research.

Online workshop "The achievements, advancement and recognition of Sámi education"

19.3.2021 14:00

The programme of online workshop on contemporary questions on Sámi education is now published, and the registration is now open. The online workshop "Árran (heart, fireplace) - The achievements, advancement and recognition of Sámi education" will be held on 15-16 April 2021. On 15 April the workshop will be at 9.00-14.30 (UTC +3), and on 16 April it will be at 9.00-11.45 (UTC +3).

Dissertation: Sámi game design is a cultural trait that evolves when given space

27.1.2021 14:00

Throughout history, Indigenous peoples have played, gamed and created their own games. Games and gaming are in fact an integral part of Sámi culture, but there are, nevertheless, only a handful of digital games around. In her dissertation Outi Laiti, BE, MEd, explores the possibilities offered by game development events for the cultural self-expression of Sámi people. What kind of a picture of Sámi culture, then, do digital games convey – who draws it, for whom and on whose terms?

Research Professor Rauna Kuokkanen selected for the Fullbright Arctic Initiative III

15.12.2020 13:00

Research Professor Rauna Kuokkanen was selected for the Fullbright Arctic Initiative III -program for 2021–2022. 18 outstanding scholars and practitioners from Arctic Council’s member countries were selected to participate in the program, of whom two are from Finland.

The online course Arctic Inclusive Education will be piloted in Spring Term 2021 - registration is now open!

7.12.2020 11:00

This 10-ECTS course has been developed in collaboration with the Arctic Five universities, and it will be held for the first time in Spring Term 2021.

Finland and India to develop indigenous and tribal peoples' studies

23.10.2020 14:10

The Northern Institute for Environment and Minority Law (NIEM) at the Arctic Centre has received 35,500 euro from the Finnish National Agency for Education (EDUFI). The funding is granted to implement the project entitled "Interdisciplinary curricula on indigenous and tribal peoples' studies."

Doctoral Dissertation: The Experience of Displacement and Social Engineering in Kola Saami Oral Histories

5.10.2020 9:00

M.A. Lukas Allemann examines in his thesis people’s experiences of Soviet-time, state-initiated displacement and (re)emplacement on the Kola Peninsula as well as the consequences of these developments. Sources show that Saami communities bore the brunt of these processes. The work seeks to draw – for the first time – a holistic picture of the social transformation among the Kola Saami, while nevertheless respecting the reality of mixed and multiple ethnic belongings as well as other categories of identity in the region.

Doctoral Dissertation: Authenticity as a compromise – a critical realist perspective on Sámi tourism labels

18.8.2020 9:00

M.A. Cecilia de Bernardi’s doctoral dissertation investigates the concept of authenticity in the context of Sámi tourism to propose possible ways of using authenticity as a protective and promotional tool. Either focusing on what is authentic/not authentic or on how anything can be authentic as long as the tourist experiences it that way has contributed to the exploitation of Sámi culture for tourism purposes. Labels, guidelines, or certifications, meant here as a series of bottom-up agreed-upon principles, can support ethical treatment and the promotion of Sámi culture(s) in tourism.

Doctoral Dissertation: When we got reindeer, we moved to live to the tundra - The spoken and Silenced History of the Yamal Nenets

18.4.2020 14:39

Roza Laptander´s dissertation is based on the stories of the Nenets reindeer herders from the Yamal peninsula, Western Siberia. It shows that spoken stories and interviews concerning big changes on the tundra reflect a general mechanism of making Nenets official historical narratives. Through analysing silence in the example of the Yamal Nenets people stories, Laptander studied the role of silence and silencing offering a new approach to understanding how small indigenous societies keep memories and stories about their past.

Open seminar on Indigenous Education including Book Launch

28.2.2020 13:00

Open seminar on Indigenous Education will discuss educational contexts of indigenous people in Greenland, Canada and Australia. The seminar will take place at the University of Lapland, Department of Education, in room ss22, and it is hosted by ADVOST research project and UArctic Thematic Network Teacher Education for Social Justice and Diversity.

Doctoral Dissertation: Speaking my Language and Being Beautiful – Decolonizing Indigenous Language Education in the Ryukyus with a Special Reference to Sámi Language Revitalization

18.2.2020 10:16

"I was never ‘indigenous’ until I studied at university and read about my home islands and my own languages in English.” This is how Madoka Hammine starts her doctoral thesis, in which she explores the meaning of indigeneity based on her experiences of growing up in the Ryukyus in Japan and on her experiences outside the indigenous language community. Hammine’s doctoral research on indigenous language revitalization opened a door for her to tell other people about herself, to reconnect with her heritage, to learn about the international understanding of indigeneity, and to reevaluate the possibilities of her own community.