Sami National Day

Saami Flag (source:wikipedia)Today, 6th February, is a very special day for all Sami,  today is Sami National day.

The Sami national day was jointly established in 1992, during the 15th Sami conference in Helsinki,  to mark and celebrate a crucial event for Sami history. Indeed, on February 6th of 1917, northern and southern Sámi crossed their National borders to come together for their first meeting in Trondheim, Norway. For the first time, they could share and discuss common concerns and work together to find mutual solutions.

The first National day was celebrated on 6th February 1993, in conjunction with the proclamation of the opening of the International Year of Indigenous People in Jokkmokk (Sweden) by the United Nation. Since then, during this important day, Sami flag flies and the Sami national anthem is sung in the local Sámi language, while all Sami, regardless of where they live, celebrate together the event.

Nowadays around 40,000 Sami live in Norway, with 20,000 in Sweden and some 7,000 in Finland. In addition there are an estimated 2,000 Sami in Russia.

Today, in remembering this crucial date, we celebrate and wish you a happy Sámi National Day! Follow the celebration in Finland at: http://www.sogku.fi/live/