Like every year, today -6.2.2022- is The National Sámi Day. I am Sámi. I am not alone. Still, very often in my life I have been silenced what comes to the cultural expression in my art&crafts. Sometimes I just can't keep it inside like I've been told to. Not today. I am free to say I am Sámi, I am Forest Sámi. Below you can read our declaration:
Declaration of the native Sami people in Finland
Our identity is Sami. We are a living part of the Sami people.
We are Sami in the sense referred to in section 17 § 3 paragraph. in the Constitution.
International human rights treaties also apply to us.
We also have the right to our own language and our culture.
We also have the same human rights as other native peoples.
We also have the right to equal treatment.
We determine our own identity.
No one else has the right to define our Sami identity
and the right to our origin.
- Forest Sami in the former Kemi Lapland Area -
Watch the declaration on YouTube!
Thank you for reading!
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