Sami Language

There are several Sami languages even as many as nine depending on the definition of language. The Sami speaking the different dialects do not necessarily understand each other. The Sami languages are related to Finnish. In Finland, three Sami languages are spoken: the North Sami, Inari Sami and Skolt Sami. North Sami is the most common one, and it is spoken widely in the northern parts of the Sami Regions in Finland, Sweden and Norway.

In Finland, very few public services are available in Sami. There is a need for special supportive measures for the spheres that are essential for the survival of the language, e.g. for mass media, literature and education. In 1992, a Language Act was passed in Finland to guarantee the official status and use of the Sami language. Today, the Sami have a right to use Sami when dealing with the authorities. In practice this only amounts to the use of interpretation and translation services.

The situation is worst for the small lingual communities: those speaking Inari Sami and Skolt Sami. Quite recently, there have been some improvements in their position. Language immersion for children under school-age has for example now been started in Inari, Ivalo and Sevettijärvi with the help of financement from the European Union and the Finnish Cultural Foundation.

Within the Sami Region in Finland, a Sami-speaking student has a right to study in Sami in the comprehensive school. It is also possible to study Sami as one's mother tongue or to take it as an optional subject both on the comprehensive and senior high school level. The first students who passed their matriculation examination with Sami as their first language graduated from high school in 1994.